Bullets, Blades, Blood and Redneck Love
by WalkingDeadNia
Summary: The day the Dixon's came along was an interesting one..I was gonna kick their ass until they saved mine. The world ain' what it used to be. Watch yerself out there caus' yer gonna need all the luck ya can get.. Has Daryl Dixon met his match...? Daryl/OC story, rated M for language
1. Chapter 1

_Italics: Flashback_

CAPITAL LETTERS: Shouting

**Authors note : Hey guys, so I just wanted to write a quick thank-you for the ongoing support I have had whiole writing this fic. A special thanks goes to Poca and Penny who have given me ongoing support. This one is for you guys!**

**I don't own the walking dead, but I would have Norman Reedus in my cupboard if I did.**

**~Nia**

**CHAPTER 1**

I looked down at my boots. This couldn't be good. There was no way I was getting out of this one. No way I was talking my way out of it at least. I looked over to the lake that was over a high verge to my left. I took a deep breath, peering over slightly. That's when a stupid redneck hick came up behind me and mockingly shoved me.

"What in the fuck is yer problem?"

My Mississippi accent thick in my harsh, daring words. "Do tha' again an' I'm gonna beat your ass" I threatened, meaning every word.

The older man laughed at me, his wrinkles around his eyes showing visibly. His crooked, slightly yellowing teeth flashed into my gaze. He repulsed me. Damn him.

"ooh look..lil' gurl has a tongue..now th' ain' very nice now is it lil' gurl? I was jus' playin' aroun'!"

I sneered in response, pushing him hard from his chest, causing him to take a step back to prevent falling over. His smile disappeared. In a split second, he lunged for me.

"DAMNIT MERLE!" The other redneck's voice spoke loudly and threateningly as he jumped between us, stopping a rather nasty back hander to my face.

I smirked in response at this man called Merle. Most people would have been afraid of this hick. Me? I grew up with guys like him. I could handle him. There was a small difference between the guys I had grown used to and this one.

He was Merle fucking Dixon and he had been on my ass since the moment I met him.

_I opened the zip to my tent, peering out curiously into the morning sun. A few strands of my golden blonde hair fell over my eyes, glinting in the sun. I squinted my eyes at the brightness and inhaled the woody smell. I checked the surrounding area swiftly with my blue eyes, and after being satisfied there was no dead monsters approaching, I went back into the small tent I had been living in, reaching into my green rucksack and pulling out a relatively clean black tank to put on. I threw it over my black bra and then put an emerald green shirt over the top of the tank. I took a sip of water out of my canister, noticing that I needed to get more; and soon. I bent down, pulling on some black combats and my black lace up boots. I did the laces up carefully, making sure to tuck the laces in. _

_"Last thing you need is to be tripping over them when yer running gal!" I told myself this religiously. _

_I grabbed my rifle that was always close at hand, picking it up and looking through the scope. I attached my hunting knife to my belt, and nodded, satisfied that I had taken everything I needed from the blue nylon tent. I stepped outside, my eyes darting around once more to check the area was safe. I bend down and packed the tent up, rolling it and strapping it to the top of my bag. I threw the backpack onto my shoulders. I had begun feeling the weight take its toll on my muscles over the past few months, but I ignored the comforting ache. I unattached the stringed cans from the trees in the square perimeter I had created around my tent. This was my a makeshift burglar alarm. It wasn't the living burglars I was worried about. It was the dead ones trying to eat my limbs. I stuffed my 'burglar alarm' into the top of my rucksack as quietly as I could._

_"Down to the lake fur some water, then try get some food fur yerself. You need to keep keep yer strength up, Neila" I told myself, planning the day out. I never strayed too far from the river, but recently I had been staying nearer the lake. It was a mile or two from the river and the forest was thicker with more woodland animals. It was easier to find myself food. That's what mattered now. Surviving._

_It was a few months ago now. I first remembered hearing it on the news. People were coming back from the dead and eating the living. It was controlled for a week or so. Then it got real bad. Worse and worse. Tanks started driving through the streets of Atlanta. People were advised to stay indoors. Not me. Maybe that's why I'm alive and the rest of the world are just dumb dead bastards who want to eat me._

_I walked east, in the direction of the lake. My rifle was slung over my shoulder. The warm Georgia sun was beating down on me through the mass of trees, glinting dangerously close to my eyes. It alerted my eyes and blurred my vision every now and then, causing my hand to shoot up to my forehead and keep the sun away. I felt the forest floor crunch under my feet, and stopped every now and then to ration the last of my water into my dry mouth. I also checked for nearby shuffles of those dangerous creatures, or hopefully wished for the scurrying of small animals that I might be able to shoot for food. Alone in this forest, I only had my thoughts to comfort and keep me company._

_"Ya aint meant to be living gurl, yer surviving." This was another of my 'little voices' favourite phrases that popped into my head daily. I put the water back into the side holster of my backpack, and stood up making my way, once again towards the lake._

_Finally, I looked over the beautiful water, the sun dancing across the surface, making the water look like glass. I smiled looking down, taking my rucksack off and throwing it down at a nearby tree, hearing the cans rattle against each other. I took the three canisters out of my bag, placing them on the forest floor. I took off my boots and combats, folding them carefully beside my rucksack, then pulled my shirt and tank over my head, throwing them on top of my combats. Pulling my rifle over my shoulder, moving it closer to the edge of the water (just in case y'know)._

_I waded into the water._

_I let the water reach my torso and let my head fall back into the water. I smiled as I finally felt clean again. The sun warmed the water nicely. I washed my body over, ran my hands through my hair and started wading back to where my clothes were. _

_The water clung to my curved, once muscular body. The lack of eating what one would consider "proper meals" was taking its toll. As I reached my rifle, I heard something in the distance. _

_I tilted my head, eyes darting around every tree I could see, trying to see or hear where these noises came from. I panicked reaching for my rifle, blue eyes alert and ears listening to every movement._

_Suddenly, I heard a voice rumble through the trees:_

_"WOOHOOO LIL' BROTHER!"_

_The noise darted off trees. Teasing and taunting me to try pin point the direction it came from. _

_"Fuck this" I muttered to myself. I ran towards my pile of clothing and bag. More importantly, I thought of my knife. The thought of its deadly silence comforting me._

_I dressed as quickly as I could, placing my rifle at my side._

_Snap._

_It was a twig. I was very familiar with the sound my new adopted home made._

_I raised my rifle, just to find a crossbow aimed at me from beside a nearby tree._

_"Who in th' hells ar' you?" I shouted, challenging this lean, rugged looking man who dared point his weapon at me. I knew he wasn't dead. The dead don't carry weapons._

_"Coul' ask ye th' same thing" He replied just as harshly, not lowering his weapon. _

_"Don' matter who I am..wha' does matter is tha' you have a freakin' weapon aimed at my head" I challenged him again. I was not becoming dead meat for this hick._

_"C'mon now lil' brother..tha' aint how ye greet a lady" Another man appeared from beside the first, who I now noticed was crouched over a squirrel. _

_The second man appeared unarmed. That was a bonus at least. He moved towards me, holding his hands up in mock surrender. _

_I quickly studied him, trying to judge his strength. He was tall and quite muscular. Graying,, but he had predominant stubble forming around his chin, his face hollowed slightly; almost like his face had been chiseled away by drugs. Quite frankly he looked like hell. Combats all worn down and dirt ridden, a tank shirt and dirt across his arms. His tan was predominant, like he had spent most of his days outside in the sun. Was touching late 40's I would have imagined. _

_'Don' underestimate him 'fore he even gets near ya, Neila" Damn. The voice was back._

_"I ain' gonna hurt ya lil' burd" He cooed, smirking as he got closer._

_Fantastic. A southerner. His accent was thick. He was gonna have my ass as soon as I opened my mouth._

_"Don' move or I will shoot" Threateningly, I moved my rifle's scope onto the advancing man, who was a little closer then expected. He was less than a feet away._

_'Fuck' I thought. 'Shoulda acted faster._

_"Ya don' wanna do tha'..my brother here will have an arrow in yer head faster than ya can pull th' trigger" I smirked in response to his misjudgment, shooting the ground in front of his feet._

_My shoulder was aching from the familiar power of the weapon._

_What happened next happened so fast I didn't know what was going on until I had his knife at my throat. The second man jumped at me, throwing my rifle aside and crouching beside me._

_"Was only try'nta be nice lil' burd..'" He inhaled deeply. "mmmh" he burried his face into my hair, knife still daring to pierce the skin at my throat. I dared not to move a muscle as I saw the first man stand and make his way towards us, scowling._

_He was leaner and a little taller than what I assumed was his older brother. He was still muscular and tanned. His arms were a lot more muscular. His hair not yet graying, and he looked a little less dirty. His hair was darker and much longer than his brother's. Or maybe he just had more smarts** and wore darker clothes. (** clever) He had a brown tank, green pants that were ripped at the knee's. He had a leather waistcoat on, which hid most of his frame. He was more attractive than his brother, an looked at least 10 years younger. This hick was mid 30's by my judgment. He only looked a few years older than me._

_"C'mon Merle.." He looked annoyed._

_"Ain' doin' no harm lil' brother..she's a pretty one.." I spat at the ground as the man with the knife to my throat ran his hands through my hair. The 'Lil brother' shot the second man, Merle a look. Merle threw me forward to the ground so fast and hard that my face fell into the leaves that had fallen off the tree's. He laughed loudly at me._

_My blood boiled. I was gonna kick this hick's ass._

_"y'know we are meant to take people back to camp" the 'Lil brother' raised an eyebrow at Merle, daring him to continue with his advances._

_"Ain' nobody care abou' rules tha' deputy do-good makes" He chuckled again. The noise angered me more as I scrunched my fists into balls of anger._

_I pulled myself up out of the ground, standing and brushing the leaves off myself. _

_I shot Merle a daring look, but thought best not to act upon it. _

_'Do ya fancy being killed, Neila?' I asked myself internally._

_"We'r takin' her back ta camp Merle" The squirrel hunter called across, almost challenging his brother, as he stared at me._

_"th' fuck ye lookin' at?" I challenged the squirrel hunter. _

_"Don' be beatin on ma ass after I just saved yers. Now get a fuckin' move on gurl or I won' be stoppin' my brother fur ya next time" _

_His eyes changed, looking more menacing; as if confirming that I was still not out of danger yet. _

_Merle walked over and picked my rifle up. It had been flung a few feet away. _

_I was less than amused by this situation._

_"C'mon lil' burd..don' need ya shootin' our asses as soon as they're turned now do we?" Merle started walking in the direction of the trees, but squirrel hunter stayed behind, staring off into the trees in the direction his brother went._

_I scowled, picking my bags up. Looks like I didn't have much choice in this matter huh. I was going to have to follow them back to their camp. I wondered how many they were. And who in the hell this 'deputy do-good' was. _

_'Don' matter, ya probably won' even get there..these hicks will probably try bury ya in this bloody forest' I said to myself, desperately hoping the voice; this time and for the first time; was wrong._

I was feeling my rucksack sting my muscles again.

Merle was infuriating me. It wasn't for the first time since we had left the lake.

My hair had started to dry nicely in the sun, the golden blonde showing instead of the wet light brown.

"So th' fuck's yer name lil burd?" He called back to me as I walked behind them.

I wanted all eyes and ears on them.

This annoyed the 'squirrel hunter.' A lot.

He would fall behind his brother every now and then and walk to my right, telling me to:

"Hurry th' fuck up" and "Ain' got time to be wastin' ya don' wanna be out here alone at dark. Cause I sure as hell ain' stayin' around ta save ya"

I smirked as I noticed he thought my ass needed saving. Ya right!

I wanted the water on my left. That was I knew where I was.

I then stopped for a moment, looking up at the trees. The sun was still beating down, but its was starting to ease up a little. It must have hit 3 in the afternoon and I had been walking most of the day.

I looked across at the lake over the verge. Merle came up behind me, mockingly shoving me.

'STUPID MOTHERLESS HICK!' I shouted at him internally before balancing myself and turning to him

"What in the fuck is yer problem? Do tha' again an I'm gonna beat yer ass"

I meant every words as I said it, but it wasn't until then I hadn't realized how thick my accent really was. I was from a small town called Nashville in Mississippi, well, originally anyway. My accent had stuck with me from childhood.

Merle just laughed at me, his wrinkles around his eyes showing his stubble off. His crooked, slightly yellowing teeth flashed into my gaze. He repulsed me. Damn him. How dare he touch me..again

"ooh look..lil' gurl has a tongue..now th' ain' very nice now is it lil' gurl? I was jus' playin' aroun'!"

I sneered in response, pushing him hard from his chest, causing him to take a step back to prevent falling over.

His smile disappeared. In a split second, he lunged for me.

"This is the second time today that.. yer.." I lunged for him at the same time; shouting and ready to tackle him.

"DAMNIT MERLE!"

The other redneck's voice spoke loudly and threateningly as he jumped between us, preventing a rather nasty back hander to my face. He also prevented me tackling Merle Dixon.

Yep. Tackling. Merle. Dixon.

"BOTH OF YA JUS' CALM TH' FUCK DOWN!" Squirrel hunter shouted at us both, pronouncing every word angrily. "Y'all can be beatin' each others asses up when we get back ta camp, fur now, settle th' hell down an' stop actin' like fuckin' kids"

He stalked away a few moments later, after giving us both warning glances.

I noticed that the sun was finally easing off, but was still trying to break through. Much to my disappointment, it wasn't giving its battle up to the evening quite yet.

I was cursing my stubbornness. I didn't have time to fill my water up at the lake and I had gone all day in this heat with barely any.

And there was no way in hell I was asking those two for some.

I felt the blood pulsing through my forehead, a dull headache throbbing.

'We better get there an' soon' I thought, my dark eyebrows forming a frown.

We set off towards this mysterious camp once again.

"Back off Merle" The 'squirrel hunter' threatened every now and then.

We had only ran into a few monsters over the past few hours, but squirrel hunter had taken them down with his crossbow swiftly and quietly.

It didn't take long until squirrel hunter announced that we were coming close to our destination.

'Thank goodness' I thought to myself. I looked around, noticing that we had climbed quite a hike, making it to the opposite side of the lake.

We were a lot higher above the lake now.

I was used to being a few hundred feet below where we were now. By this time of day, I would be setting up tent, dimming my fires and starting to keep a watch out for monsters. I would have usually set up my 'burglar alarm' and eaten by now. Water. Oh what I would have done for some water.

I had no idea a place this safe was as close to where I camped.

According to squirrel hunter they needed more food for camp and detoured around the nearby forest. I stared at my boots, frowning.

I just wanted to sit down.

My head was throbbing and I was close to giving into temptation and asking these damn hicks for some bloody water.

I had almost given in after a few more trips around in circles in the forest when squirrel hunter announced:

"Welcome to paradise" he said this with a predominant smirk, intriguing me.

It appeared we had been walking in circles for so long that I had become disorientated without even realizing it.

I needed water.

'Don' give in now Neila' The voice told me. I listened.

I felt my dry mouth ache at the thought of water.

DAMN!

I walked up a dirt track behind the southerners, struggling and battling against my thirst that had now turned into exhaustion.

The damn sun that was finally starting to dim, giving into the evening light that was much softer and less harsh in its ways.

The early evening sky had turned a lovely orange color; announcing its presence to the sweet Georgia sky.

We reached the end of the dirt path, and I smiled as I saw faces. Lots of faces.

I couldn't believe it.

People!

Live breathing people!

My heart raced as I saw them going about their daily businesses. I had finally managed to catch up to squirrel hunter and I smiled.

Merle swiftly disappeared into a nearby tent and I scanned the faces. It appeared that nobody had been alerted to our presence. The women chatted in the corner of camp, beside a large RV. A white haired man was on top and appeared to be the first one to notice us. He waved, offering us a friendly smile.

A few people looked around, one in particular caught my eye. A very well built man who strode over to us immediately.

I had no time to take in his facial features or judge his strength and character, because before I knew it, I was swaying.

Side to side, like on a boat.

It wasn't seasickness that was the problem.

It was exhaustion.

Malnutrition.

And the exhaustion that came with the thought of finally being the safest I have been in weeks.

I could finally rest.

It was then I noticed I was looking at the evening sky from what felt like the ground, squirrel hunter blocking my view.

My eyes shut and I blacked out.

A few last thoughts raced through my head.

Damn him.

**Authors Note:**

**Hope you guys liked the first chapter! There is much more of Neila to come, dont worry! **

**Please R&R and let me know your thoughts!**

**~Nia**

I didn't ask him to save my ass.


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Note:**

**So, Neila is back guys! Thank-you for your patience in waiting for this chapter, hope you like it!**

**This one is for everyone supporting my story, you know who you guys are ;) there is alot more Neila still to come!**

**hope you ENJOY!**

**~Nia**

'AW! What in th' fucks?'

I thought as I opened my eyes.

I closed them again swiftly, pulling my hand to my head, nursing my forehead with my hand in the hope that it would help the pain.

The sun that had fluttered through my vision for that split second had made my head ache more.

I was trying to make sense of what had happened.

I tried opening my eyes again, trying my best to ignore the pain. I was in a tent..it wasn't mine; I could tell by the colour that filtered through the tent, illuminating the light around me. The sun was hitting the outside of the tent hard. It kept surging pain through my head.

I saw a blur of blue cloth. It was someone pressing a cold towel to my head.

My eyes closed, embracing the comfort that came with the coolness of the cloth that had been soaked in water. It acted as a shot of penicillin to a nasty infection; ridding the pain for moments, before the shots through my head began again.

It then registered in my head that I didn't know who this person was.

My eyes shot open, panicked. The woman who was holding the cloth to my tanned head appeared to be startled by my sudden defense, retracting her hand from the cloth as if it had burnt her.

I squinted my eyes, swinging my legs over the bed and sitting up. Everything became blurry and the cloth fell to the ground.

"Slow down, slow down, you don' want to hurt yourself any more.." Her Georgia accent was thick in her voice. She placed a friendly hand on my shoulder, steadying me.

I felt the bed underneath me move to my right as she sat down beside me.

I looked over to her. My sharp vision was beginning to re-appear. Her features were slowly becoming clearer to me as I focused. I looked at her kind eyes, studying them for any malice or ill intention.

'Thank-goodness' I thought. 'At least its not squirrel hunter and Merle'

I sighed slightly at the relief, letting that thought comfort me for a few moments, before my old suspicions about people crept up on me again.

"Wha' happened?" my voice was groggy. I could hear it sounding harsh and unpleasant.

"Sun stroke" the woman looked away and down to the ground awkwardly. "It was pretty bad by the looks of things. Y'must have gone a while in this heat withou' water. You collapsed. When you got here"

"How long was ah' out?" I squinted my eyes again as I spoke. The sun was taking its toll on my head again.

"Two days.."

I sighed as I heard her Georgia accent tug at her words. Her eyes showed signs of of concern as I looked over to her.

This made my suspicions arise again.

Who was this woman?

I didn't know her and yet she appeared concerned about me.

I studied the small petite woman. She wore a light beige t-shirt that appeared floral and little girl like. Her slightly graying hair was cut short. Her khaki pants were a dark brown. She was tiny and looked as though she couldn't hurt a fly.

That was a dangerous place to be in this world.

It was the bruises at the top of her arm that startled me most about this woman. They were blue and quite clearly fresh. They were 3 bruises right next to each other, just below the beige t-shirt that cut off just below her shoulder. This woman appeared to be in her late 30's, though she looked older than she probably was. Anyone looking at her would think she was late 40's.

She intrigued me. What caused this woman to age well before her time?

Maybe I was wrong about this woman and I was under estimating her. My observant mind was clearly still recovering from its battle with the sun.

"PHHT, what is she to you? Get th' hell outta' there Neila" The voice in my head sure as hell didn't take long to reappear.

Last time I ignored it, I didn't end up being hurt by the hicks..maybe it was time to start ignoring my paranoid mind. This woman appeared friendly enough after all.

I looked down, cursing myself for being so weak. I stood, the headache from earlier still predominant and throbbing.

I swayed to my left a little before regaining my balance.

Someone had take off my boots and placed them at the edge of the tent. I still considered darting for them and running.

I didn't see my rifle around.

And I sure as hell was not going to get very far without it.

On the other hand, this woman had shown me nothing but good intentions so far, and I didn't want to offend her.

I turned and held my hand out to the woman as a gesture of a proper greeting.

"m' Neila..wha's yer name?" I tried my best to give a friendly smile to the woman.

She appeared to be a little intimidated my my friendliness as her green eyes widened a little.

Or maybe I was imagining it and it was just the southern harshness that always seemed to be predominant and overwhelming in my voice.

She stood up as well, smiling at me that appeared to have genuine written all over it.

"Carol.." She took my hand giving it a feeble shake.

"Wha' happened to yer arm?" My brows furrowed together quizzically. I was trying to be as kind and friendly as possible. Maybe it was showing.

Though, she still appearered a little unsure of me.

"It was just..uhm..clumsiness.." She smiled lightly.

Somehow I didn't believe a word of that. You don't get 3 bruises on your upper arm from just being clumsy..

I raised an eyebrow, beginning to sift though the possibilities in my head.

"Whatever, not yer business Neila" the voice in my head spoke to me again.

It was for the first time I had noticed that the clothes I had put on yesterday had been neatly folded in a corner beside where my boots lay.

I was wearing difference clothes. That means someone had undressed me.

"You should come meet th' others" Carol said still smiling at me. She was obviously trying to distract the conversation from her bruises.

"Sure..Let me jus' get my boots on" I replied, standing and walking to the canvas chair in the corner of the tent.

The tent was small, but appeared to have more than just my belongings inside it.

"Who else shares this tent?" I looked at Carol quizzically as I sat on the canvas chair and bent down, putting my boots on. She might not have realized it, but I still had all eyes on her.

My senses were becoming alive again.

"Oh..Glenn said you could share his tent with him. No need to worry he's a nice boy. I will introduce you to him" Her smile grew wider.

The though of a stranger sleeping in the same proximity as me while I was unconscious was somewhat unsettling.

I had my own tent, no matter how nice this boy 'Glenn' was I was pitching my own tent.

"who in th' hells ar' these people to be nice ta me?" My voice in my head thought. It was becoming distracting.

Maybe they were nice people, reasoned with the voice.

I looked up to Carol once my boots were on and my laces were tucked in, stood once again, feeling less wabbly on my feet this time.

"After' ya" I motioned for Carol to leave and I intended to follow closely behind.

Before leaving the tent, I studied my appearance.

I had my green combats on and a tank shirt that fitted my slim body nicely. I had a checked shirt over the top, the beiges bringing out my features nicely. I ran my fingers through my long hair.

My blue eyes went back to the door of then tent that Carol had already walked though.

"Off to meet the rest of the squirrel killers a' guess it is then Neila.." I cured the voice in my head as I followed a few seconds behind Carol, moving the cloth from the tent to my right so I could move outside.

As I stepped out, the sun was harshly beating down on the ground. It was still covered with bark that had peeled from the trees through the fall.

I squinted my eyes, the sun still making them ache

I looked around, we were situated at the top of the dirt track. That was one of the last things I remember. It was coming back to me now

The trees around the tent I had just left were glinting in the sun. The green's and forest feeling comforting me. It was the familiarity and comfort that I had adopted in the past months.

The forest was my home now. It kept me safe. That was all I needed and it was coming harder and harder to find in the new world.

I inhaled deeply, smelling the woody, outdoors air. It soothed me slightly.

There were trees surrounding the camp from all directions, but it appeared that these people had set up in a logical and safe place far enough away from the city.

The sun was the strongest in the middle of the camp, where a few longs were situated together. There were tree's surrounding the camp, secluding it in a circle, though the dirt path ran right up to edge of camp.

There were a few trucks and cars parked down the path.

The logs in the middle of the camp, surrounded by tents on the outskirts reminded of all those stories you heard of summer camp. The children sitting around the fire, sharing stories and singing 'kumbaya'.

Not that I knew what summer camp involved. My father had been too busy drinking his life away to bother filling the forms out.

I scanned the faces that began to look up as I walked closer to the cozy center of camp.

My step was cautious and my eyes were darting around watching everything.

The man I remember from the previous days before looked down from the top of the RV and smiled. The RV was a creme colour and looked old. There was an umbrella pitched at the top of it. The man looked as old as the RV, if not older. His white hair and wrinkles were predominant even from this distance. Even so, I smiled back up at him.

I noticed the vultures move in on the new meat in camp. I scanned around, noticing that nearly everyone was look up at me.

That was when the other man I remembered approached me once again.

He was tall, muscly and tanned. Tall as well, he made me feel small in comparison to his build, I imagine he would have been touching 6"2. He had dark hair that was well trimmed.

I decided he was good looking. He had an air of authority about him and I decided he must be the leader of these people as he had been the first to approach me on two occasions now.

He wore a dark blue "King Country's Sheriff's Dept." t-shirt with the logo on the top left corner. It covered his well built muscles and looked a little too small. It clung tight to his chest and I couldn't help but smirk at the irony of a cop leading these people when the end of the world came.

"We were beginning to worry the Dixon's had drugged you up or something" His Georgia accent was strong through his words.

I smirked in response.

"Damn...are all of y'all from roun' here? Seems to be no place for someone of my origin at the en' of th' worl'" The deputy smiled back at me, quite clearly picking up on my Mississippi accent straight away.

"Com' meet everyone" he nodded his head in the direction of the logs, where people began to gather. I looked into his dark eyes, still deciding to keep my playful tone with him.

I figured that would get me further than resisting. I reckon he could kill me with his thumb if he wanted too.

"Yes Sir" I grinned, and decided that - so far that these people seemed to be alright.

'Into the doom of the Peach survivors**' was my last thought before I followed after the deputy with a with a warm smile, ready for whatever situation these people might throw at me.

'Bring it on Merle' I thought to myself as I smirked and looked over to the two Dixon's standing on the edge of the circle of people.

(** Peach State is the nickname for the state of Georgia)

**So what did you guys think? ****Please R&R it makes my day to see my reviews!**

**Do you like the way the story is going?**

**We are going to get to know a little more about Neila's past in chapter 3 and introduce her to the group..she might even have another little fight with Merle ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

_Italics: Flashback_

_Underlined: Lyrics_

CAPITAL LETTERS: SHOUTING

**Authors Note: Hello everyone..sorry for such a long update. Had a tad of writers block and some personal problems too. Hope you don't hate me for it, but here it is! Chapter 3..**

**THANKS go to Poka for her support and amazing writing that has kept me going over the past weeks, and also to my new followers and favorites! You guys make my day, THANKYOU!**

**This is for you guys, so enjoy. **

**Love, as always **

**~ Nia :)**

_I walked out of the bar with an angry flare. The door slammed behind me, just as I had intended it too. I had taken enough of the shit from that twat._

_'Quit another job gurl..ain' no good! Fuckin' useless..28 years old an' can' even hold down a job..'_

_This voice liked to make comments on my day to day life. It had been with me for years..conscience I think some people call it. _

_I called it a fucking nightmare._

_I looked left and right across the road and after noticing there was no cars on the usually quiet road, I crossed._

_I needed to get as far away from this place as possible. _

_If there was anything I was good at, it was moving onto a new town and starting over again. Damn, it if it was a career I would be rolling in the bucks!_

_Pulling a cigarette out of the Marlboro packet, I took out the zippo lighter and lit it, taking a long drag. _

_I walked over to the car park that faced the pub I used to work at just moments ago. _

_I pulled my car keys out my pocket, I let my hair down from its tight bun and unlocked the truck._

_I opened the door and stepped up to the old, black Chevy's high leather seat. I closed the door and flung my bag in the direction of the passenger side._

"_Damn" I thought. I pulled out the map that I kept in the glove compartment and looked at the crosses I had made on it. _

_All the places I had been. _

_I crossed them off because after a while I forgot where I had been. _

_Almost every state._

_Maybe I should re-visit Georgia. I suppose that the south wasn't so bad.._

_Maybe I would have more luck there_

_'No' likely gurl..ya have tried almost half of America with no luck'_

_I exhaled loudly, hoping the voice was wrong and I might have some more luck in Atlanta._

_I started the engine and pulled the truck out of the car park._

_I turned my favorite Gretchen Wilson CD on and threw my cigarette but out of the window._

_"Some people look down on me, but I don't give a rip_

_ I'll stand barefooted in my own front yard with a baby on my hip_

_ 'Cause I'm a redneck woman"_

_The CD player blasted the music out._

"_Here's to a new start...again" I told myself aloud._

_I turned the music up, singing along, tapping my fingers on the steering wheel as I started to drive, the wind rushing through my hair._

_Goodbye Rock Springs. _

_Goodye Wyoming._

_Hello Atlanta._

_I didn't know at that point that it was hopeless because soon, the world would soon belong to the dead._

I had helped the women doing their washing throughout the day; which was ridiculously boring I might add.

I was not made to be a housewife. I was more suited to be defending the camp than playing housewife at the end of the world.

They all seemed nice enough though, but the heat had eventually taken a toll on me again and I had later returned to Glenn's tent to talk though sleeping arrangements with him.

"I jus' thaink' that its best I sleep in my own tent" I scowled softly at him as my arms were crossed across my chest. I wanted him to know I was annoyed.

He was protesting.

Boy had guts, I'll tell you that much.

The small Asian boy sat opposite me on his cot. His legs drooped over the side. Touching the ground. I had noticed that he was very good at expressing through hand gestures.

"Maybe, but if a lots of those walkers come through camp, we need everyone to be situated in a strategical position..not flitted all over the place" Again, he used his hands to

"wha' did you call them?" I smirked, raising an eyebrow at the boy. I imagined he wasn't any older than 25. He seemed nice enough and was trying to hear me out. He was dressed in a light blue t-shirt, jeans and some trainers.

"What? Walkers? That's what we call them..what do you call them?" He raised an eyebrow questioning me.

"Monsters" I sighed looking down, finally realizing how stupid it sounded as Glenn laughed at me.

I threw an object at him. I had no idea what it was, just the first thing that came to hand.

"Well, monsters is right, but that's not the point that we are tr.." Glenn was cut off as I stood up.

"M' don' talkin' abou' this kid" I scowled at him, grabbing my bag and heading out into the center of camp.

Glenn poked his head out the tent calling after me

"NEILA!"

"DEAL WITH IT GLENN" I rolled my eyes, cursing him under my breath.

I looked around camp and found a spot close to another tent that I had been lead to believe was Lori and Carl's tent.

I liked her. She was a woman that had dark brown long hair. She was like the queen bee around here. Normally I would not have given her type of girl the time of day, but she had a descent enough sense of what it too keep herself and her son alive. Not without the help of Shane of course

She had a son, Carl his name was. He was quite a timid boy, but I could tell he was a mischievous at heart.

I had spoken to Carl, half expecting him to be like any other 13 year old boy I had met.

He told me about how his father had died in a hospital just a short time before the outbreak of the dead. I felt sorry for the boy. I told him he was lucky. Maybe its not the right thing to tell a boy who's father had died only a few months go, but poor kid needs to let it go.

Not like his Father was coming back.

I unattached my tent from the top of my bag, thinking about the boy and Lori.

There was surely a secret or two there with Lori and Shane. Shane was the muscular man. The man who had approached me first.

He was a little intimidating, granted. On the other hand, he had kept these people alive, which is more than I can say for some of the people's here ability to survive.

They were all still to damn human.

Needed to toughen up a little.

Like Andrea. Yeah she knew what it would take to survive, but still naive to some blind risks that were more than likely to still come.

The group had a conversation earlier about how they were going to get more food when the beans and tinned food ran out.

Shane suggested frogs.

Stupid twat.

Did he not know he had more chance of swimming with dolphins and catching one of those?

Squirrel hunter soon cut in from his safe zone on the outskirts of the conversation. He explained that there were animals in the woods that once cooked, could be eaten.

Most people turned their noses up at this suggestion. He later stormed off in a huff, cursing and swearing.

I was surprised he was even there at all. I thought he would be off in the woods killing more squirrels and not giving these people the time of day.

Turns out, even at the end of the world, you can be wrong about people.

And Merle?

He disappeared off to go get his next hit a few minutes into the conversation.

Damn him.

I smiled, thinking about the events and new people I had met throughout the day.

It was beginning to turn dark as the sun was setting over the hills of Atlanta.

I rolled my tent out and started pitching. I took me a few minutes to fully notice that I had been joined by another person's presence.

I looked up, and stood a second later when I realized it was squirrel hunter.

"Don' think we got off on th' righ' foot d'you?" He looked at me, his features hard and unforgiving.

"Wha' y'mean y'all capturin' me?" I smirked, challenging him. "Yer brother's a fuckin' ass."

"Watch yer mouth' gurl..only I can say thaings like tha' bout' him..'sides ya don' even know his name"

This made my chuckle loudly, staring him down and challenging him to continue insulting me.

"A' don' need someon' to tell me their name to know wha' it is" I sneered back at him.

This got him to smirk in response.

Looks like I had grinded his gears a little**. (**annoyed him)

"Yeh'? Wha' is it then?" he cocked his head to the side slightly, mocking me

"Merle" I spat Merle's name, hoping he would hear the malice in my tone.

"An' mine?" Damn..he had caught me out. I didn't actually know his name except that his last name was Dixon..

I scowled at him, knowing I had lost the argument. I had no rebuttal.

"Don' matter what yer name is" I said harshly, ignoring his presence and building my tent again.

"Wha' a way ta say thanks ta someone who saved yer life 'gainst family..y'know Merle wanted ta leave ye in tha; forest..alone" I ignored him again and finished pitching my tent. I heard him mouth

"An' it's Daryl by the way" Before storming off.

So, Daryl Dixon the squirrel hunter. It had a nice ring to it somehow.

**Daryl POV**

I woke early the next morning, deciding to leave and hunt before the rest of camp got up.

I was still angry.

The girl had no fuckin' clue.

She was a survivor, granted. But she had a mouth on her.

Don't she know it ain' going to do her no good round here?

If it was anyone else I would have had a lot more fight in me about the matter.

Nobody gets ta talk bout my brother like that an get away with it.

I picked my bow up and disappeared into the forest as just angry as the moment I had left her to build her tent.

"Le' Merle have his fun" I growled to myself and went to find some squirrel.

**Neila POV**

I woke later than I had expected to the next morning.

I had planned to get up and have a better look around the surrounding area of camp.

Oh and I wanted to question that Shane about where my rifle had gone.

After dressing and walking out into camp, I saw Merle Dixon gathered with Shane, Andrea and a few of the others.

I sat down on the logs in the middle of camp, turning to Glenn.

"Wha's all tha' about?" I nodded over to the commotion Merle was causing amongst the small group.

"Making a run into town. Merle wants to go. Phht, if you ask me its a bad idea taking any of them. I prefer to go alone."

"Don' you know Atlanta belongs to the dead?" raised an eyebrow at the younger boy, looking over at the beans he was eating out of a bowl lustfully.

Damn, I was hungry.

"Yeah. There are a lot of walkers in the city, granted." He took another mouthful. "but its easy to get in and out alone...with this lot trailing behind me? They will just slow me up"

He scowled over at the group.

"Any chance I can make myself useful and come too?" I perked up at the thought of tagging along on the supply run.

Though the fact I had no rifle was going to prove a problem.

"Nope. Got more people than we need. Last thing I need is another straggler..no offense"

Glenn then stood and walked towards the RV, shouting something up to Dale and walking inside the RV.

I sulked at the thought of having to stay behind.

I wanted to help and the dumb bastards wouldn't let me.

Fine, let them have it their way!

I looked over once again to the group who still seemed to be having a heated debate with the redneck.

It was then I noticed Merle had my rifle in his hand. He was waving it around like the pansy ass he was.

I was going to murder him.

Slowly.

I stood and walked over to the gathered group, fists curled up in a ball at either side of me.

"OH look, looks lik' we hav' another' volunteer folks!" Merle clapped his hands, still holding my rifle.

Everyone turns to look at me. They looked confused.

I was hoping they couldn't read the expression on my face.

"Why. Pray Tell Me. Dixon. Do you. Have MY RIFLE. In YOUR HAND?" My fists curled further in as I shouted the last of my words at Merle.

Andrea looked shocked.

Amy looked a little scared of me.

Shane smirked at me in amusement.

Lori moved Carl further away from the commotion, claiming they "had to go finish" something or other.

I saw the boy peek over his shoulder, from the corner of my eye. He was clearly peeved** at his mothers protective nature. (** annoyed)

My eyes dazzled with anger as I stared the older Dixon down.

The Hispanic man that I didn't know the name of looked at Merle in shock.

Almost as if he though stealing was below even Merle Dixon.

Clearly he did not know Merle's type very well.

"Could'a been anyones ri-" I took a step closer to Merle, cutting him off mid sentence with a hard fist to his nose.

He took a step back.

Everyone gawked at me, shocked.

Nobody stood up to Merle Dixon.

Nobody sure as hell hit Merle Dixon.

"YOU lil' Bitch!" He shouted as he lunged at me, though this time was different from the first.

Daryl the squirrel hunter wasn't going to jump in and stop us this time.

That thought amused me more.

What was it he said?

'Y'all can do tha' when ya get back ta camp'?" Well it was something to that extent anyway.

I was going to hold the younger Dixon to his word.

I looked amused as I saw blood trickle down the redneck's nose.

I took a step back swiftly before he could tackle me.

"NOW NEILA, HIT HIM NOW" the voice in my head screamed.

I made to take my other fist down on his jaw.

He was too fast and hit me square in the nose.

Hard.

I lost my footing and fell to the bark covered ground.

"BASTARD!" I yelled as I made to stand up and fight him again.

Shane took a stance between us.

"Both of y'all just calm th'-" Merle made to lunge at me again, but Shane held him back.

I nursed my nose and Jacqui took me to once side, quickly pulling me into her tent and away from the commotion.

It smelled nice in her tent. Looked nice and tidy too.

"You should'n rile him up" I was still pinching my nose that was gushing with blood now.

"He stole my rife. Dixon or not, I ain' lettin' nobody steal from me an' ge' away with it" I told her.

My serious warning tone was obviously clear.

She handed me an old rag and I held it to my nose in the hope it would catch the blood.

"We are making a run into town. Sadly, we need all the guns we can get" She sighed, clearly not amused by the fact of Merle with a gun.

"Well, good luck to all'a ya" I scowled, leaving her tent.

I didn't mean to be so short with her. It wasn't her fault, but Dixon annoyed the hell outta me.

I sulked off back to my tent.

"Fuckin' Dixons" I muttered to myself and a few minutes later I felt the bleeding slow.

I heard a short chap against the fabric of the tent and Shane walked in.

I growled a short "Yeh'"

I was still nursing my nose which ached and throbbed now the adrenaline had worn off.

"I aint happy bout the fact Dixon has a gun on this run either." He explained to me. His tone was different from earlier.

"Don' matter. Tha' rifle is th' only gun I have. It's like gold ta me" I scowled over at Shane from my canvas seat, removing the rag from my nose as I spoke. "Last thin' I wanted was it in th' hands of a Dixon"

"Look, I will get yer gun back off him when they get back from Atlanta. I give you my word" Shane held his hand out in a hand shake of promise.

I stood so that I felt taller and less intimidated by him tall frame.

"Fine. Bu' for future, don' make promises ya cant keep. Dixon won' do anythin' nobody wants him to." I threw the rag down to the floor of my tent. I gave Shane a small shrug and walked back out of my tent into the humid air.

I looked up to the top of the RV and decided to keep Dale company for a little while.

I climbed up the ladder up the side.

Taking every step cautiously and after a few more steps I peered my head over the top, just to find a hand shoved in my face with a smile.

"It woul' be rude no' to accept it gurl" Stupid voice was back.

'Stop commenting on every fuckin' thing I do' I yelled back at it and shook myself back to reality.

I attempted a smile up at Dale and took his hand.

I was a little surprised that the older man had a fair bit of strength.

He helped hoist me up easily.

"Thanks" I hollered over to Dale who was now retreating over to his deck chair.

Looking over at the view, I smiled and now knew why the man spent all his time up here.

The lake was on one side of the RV, it was beautiful.

On the other, you could see the whole camp.

A truck was now being loaded and Merle was irritating the people loading it.

I rolled my eyes and felt some caring eyes on me.

I sat down and swung my legs over the side of the RV.

Continuing to watch people pack up, Dale was still watching me.

"Shouldn't really get into fights with Merle" His voice seemed to be more filled with concern than Jacqui's.

She sounded like she knew it was a lost cause.

She knew I wasn't going to back down.

She sure as hell knew Merle was not going to back down.

I came to the conclusion she just wanted to keep everyone happy.

I looked over at Dale and shrugged.

"He shouldn' be such a prick" I smirked and Dale chuckled.

"Lost cause that one" He smiled and looked back over at the survivors who were now gathered under the shade having some last words before they were to leave.

I did the same.

Eyes scanning over the camp, I observed how the people I was now living with interacted with one another.

Lori was in conversation with Andrea and Amy, Amy was crying.

Lori had Carl by her side as usual.

Shane was giving some wise words to some of the others who were gathered around the truck.

Glenn just looked plain annoyed.

I'm guessing he noticed my eyes on him and looked straight up at me.

He mockingly saluted with a grin.

I could only smile back.

I would never ever say it aloud, but these people seemed to be alright.

Sure, Merle was a complete prick.

Sure, Daryl the squirrel hunter seemed only a tad more tame than his brother.

But hell, Dale was alright..Glenn too.

Maybe it was time I stopped trying to do all this alone and made an effort to get on with these people.

I shrugged the though off and went back to observing them.

The Hispanic man got into the drivers seat, Merle in the passenger seat.

Everyone else piled into the back of the truck.

I breathed out heavily, knowing my rifle was a lost cause.

I made a mental note to find a new weapon other than just my knife.

Still looking at everyone in the truck, the silence on the top of the RV was piercing.

Dale and I were both wondering the same thing.

How many of these people are going to make it back?

**Authors note:**

**Hope you guys liked this chapter! **

**I know this one is a little dull, but next few chapters it will pick up and we will see some more Daryl/Neila :D**

**Going to start getting these chapters updated sooner :)**

**R&R please :)**

**Love to All!**

**~Nia**


	4. Chapter 4

_Italics = Radio_

**Authors note :**

**_Alex-Kurotani_ – Thank-you for your lovely review! I am glad you like the story so far. Hope you like this chapter :)**

**_Poka_ – Yeah, Neila is a bit of a hothead, huh! She has grown up in the south with guys like Merle, so she knows how to handle her own haha :)**

**So here is chapter 4 for ya, hope you enjoy, please review, it makes my day and inspires me to get these chapters up a little faster for y'all!**

**ENJOY :)**

**~Nia**

_"Hello, base camp.."_ The radio shouted out.

Everyone froze and snapped their heads around, looking over to where the noise had come from.

Dale climbed up to the top of the RV as fast as he could, and everyone ran over to the bottom of the ladder to listen.

Amy stopped pacing and looked up at the radio looking a little worried.

_"Can anyone out there hear me? Base camp, this is T-Dog"_ the radio sounded frantic..

Something must have gone wrong.

I furrowed my brow at the thought.

'Probably Merle's fault' I sneered to myself in my thoughts.

I stood up and stood beside Amy, placing a friendly hand on her shoulder.

She didn't even seem to notice, she was too concentrated on the radio.

_"Hello, hello..?_" Dale said as he picked up the other end._ "Receptions bad on this end, repeat, repeat.."_

_"Shane..is that you?"_ T-Dog questioned.

"Is that them..?" Lori questioned looking up at Dale.

He held a finger up to hush her.

I rolled my eyes.

'Can barely hear them as it is woman..shut up' I thought, scowling slightly at Lori then turning my attention back to the radio.

_"We are trapped in the department store.."_ T-Dog said, though it was vague, everyone heard it.

Amy's eyes widened a and my grip on her shoulder tightened a little.

"Did he say they were tapped?" She asked looking up at Dale.

I looked to my left to judge Shane's reaction this news.

He held his hand over this forehead looking a distressed by it.

I knew why.

People would want to go saving them and he couldn't risk any more lives.

I remember what Glenn said about getting in and out and a group slowing him up.

I looked at the ground, feeling guilty for not trying harder to go with them.

'Last thing I need is another straggler' is what he said gurl..ain' no use in denying the fact they didn' wan you t'go!' I internally scowled at the voice, knowing I could have pushed harder to go and help.

_"Geeks all over the place..hundreds of them..we are surrounded by them.."_ T-Dog informed us what we feared..It was just a matter of time until

_"T-Dog reapeat that last..Repeat!"_ Dale called back to T-Dog frantically..there was no need, we all heard.

There was no response.

The line went dead.

Dale was trying to change the channels, turning the knobs on the radio, trying to pick the signal up again.

Amy looked hopeless, and Shane knew he had to break the news to her.

"He said the department store.." Lori said calmly, Carl standing by her side.

Thunder rolled again.

The same as it had been rumbling every so often for the past hour or so.

It was almost like the thunder was setting the mood for Shane's little 'speech'.

I looked at Shane with piercing eyes.

"I heard it too.." Dale said and everyone now looked to Shane for his response.

"Shane.." Lori said approaching him, but before she had a chance to say what she wanted to, he cut her off.

"No way..we do not go after them..we do not risk the rest of the group..y'all know that" Shane told everyone firmly.

"So we are just going to leave her there?" Amy questioned, turning to Shane in shock.

She quite believed how cold Shane was being about the situation.

We all know it would have been different if it was Lori or Carl trapped out there.

Just as I thought before..they are too damn human.

Shane has the right idea.

"Amy..I know that this is not easy.." Shane was fiddling with this hat and his expression mirrored one I'm sure he used to give people when he was a cop told them bad news.

It looked like he had a lot of practice at this 'breaking bad news' thing.

I took my hand off Amy's shoulder and let her say what she had to.

I never had any real family, but if I had, I would imagine I would feel the exact same as Amy did right now..frustrated, helpless and angry that nobody would help.

I realized that nearly everyone here had someone and I felt a little more like a black sheep.

"She volunteered to go! To help the rest of us." Amy was not seeing eye to eye at all with Shane.

"She knew the risks, right?" Shane stared Amy down, challenging her slightly.

I could tell he was getting frustrated and more stubborn by the minute..he was beginning to loose his diplomatic, calm front.

"So if she's trapped..she's gone. So you will just have to deal with it. There's nothing we can do"

My eyes opened and my brows furrowed as he spoke.

Shane was getting too harsh on the girl.

She was young..25 at most.

There was no need for such coldness.

Then and there, I lost a lot of respect for him.

"She's my sister. You son of a bitch!" Amy stormed off, angry as hell and I didn't blame her in the slightest.

Shane looked over at me sheepishly.

I stared at him and just shook my head, walking off after Amy.

Lori did the same and followed after me, clearly just as disappointed in Shane's tone as I was.

* * *

I took some washing off the line, just in time too as the rain started.

I placed the clean basket under a nearby tree so the rain wouldn't dampen it.

The weather was temperamental today and I had already noticed the black cloud that was looming over us.

And not just the metaphorical one involving our people stuck in Atlanta, but the physical one that eventually gave in and burst over the camp and the most of Atlanta.

The weather reflected everyone's mood after having heard what T-Dog had said.

I sighed in relief as the heavy patter against the ground finally stopped a short while later.

I came out of my tent, smelling the dampness of the bark instantly.

It was a refreshing smell.

Walking back over the the logs in the center of camp with a washing basket in hand, Dale approached me.

"Is she alright?" He asked in the concerned tone that a father would.

My first response was a shrug. "ain' takin' it lightly.. half'a the camp can still hear her sobbin'. An' the way Shane said what he did. m'su-" I was cut short as we both looked over at Amy who reappeared out of her tent, tear stains still down her face.

Dale smiled apologetically to me and slinked away, climbing back up to his favorite spot on top of the RV.

I called Amy over.

"Wanna help fold?" I offered her a smile as I spoke, hoping that it might keep her thoughts busy.

She nodded, taking a pile and began folding clean laundry with me.

We remained in silence, and it was just as well or we would not have heard the car alarm that was whizzing all around us, maybe a mile or so away.

"Damn, that's fuckin' loud!" I announced loudly, scowling and listening as the noise got a little louder each second that passed.

Shane stood, walking over to the RV.

"Talk to me Dale!" He demanded up at the older man.

Amy stood, straining her ears trying to listen and other people followed suit, doing the same.

Dale pulled out his binoculars, pressing the wrinkles around his eyes into them.

"Can't tell yet.." Was all he offered us as strained his eyes more.

"Is it them? Are they back?" Amy asked hopefully, her eyes looking around.

Shane grabbed his gun that he had been cleaning most of the afternoon.

"I'll be damned.." Dale said looking down at us

"What is it?!" Amy demanded, clearly not happy Dale was speaking in his usual riddles.

"Stolen car is my guess.." We all heard the car alarm getting closer and I looked in the direction that the truck left from early that morning.

Lori had her arm draped over Carl, straining her eyes like the rest of us to try and see what would pull up the dirt road.

The alarm was loud..very loud.

We all looked in shock as a red mustang pulled up and the noise continued, nearly deafening everyone.

I looked around, half expecting the driver to have lead the whole dead population of Atlanta here.

Everyone walked over and I joined, determined to get the noise to shut up before the whole dead population of freaking Georgia turned up.

Glenn jumped out the car with the biggest grin on his face.

"Holy crap, TURN THAT DAMN THING OFF!" Dale shouted as he climbed down from the RV.

I opened the drivers door, moving Glenn out the way in the process.

"You fuckin' crazy bohy?!" I rolled my eyes and shouted at him, trying to move the screwdriver out of the ignition to shut the engine off.

No luck it wasn't budging and Shane tried popping the hood.

Glenn said something that nobody could hear because the alarm was droning his voice out.

Amy started firing questioned at Glenn about her sister.

"Pop the damn hood please!" Shane started yelling at Glenn, I took a step back from the car, letting Glenn pop the hood.

"IS SHE OK?" Amy was still yelling at Glenn, trying to get an answer.

"Yeah, yeah..she's ok..she's ok!"

"What happened in the city? Whay isn't she here, is she ok? Why isn't she with you? Where is she?" Amy started firing at Glenn again.

Shane and Jim looked under the hood, and Jim pulled the plug on the electrics which stopped the alarm.

I still felt it ringing in my ears and was watching Glenn and Amy.

"She's ok?"

"YES!..yeah..fine..everybody is" Glenn looked a little irritated by all these questions.

Amy looked ecstatic knowing that her sister was alright.

"Well..Merle not so much" Glenn finished his sentence.

"You crazy driving this whalin' bastard up here? You trying to draw every walker for miles?" Shane asked exactly what I was thinking.

"I think we are ok" Dale said, looking around.

"You call being stupid ok?" Shane questioned Dale, his tone suggesting he was furious.

"Well that alarm was bouncing all over these hills..hard to pinpoint the source." Shane looked at Dale as a mother would a son to shut him up.

He was pissed, and Dale knew it.

"I'm not arguing" He defended "I'm just saying..though it wouldn't hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time, would it?" Dale said pointing at Glenn.

I looked at Glenn with a slight smirk.

He didn't seem to notice, but I was glad he was alright.

He was a good kid and hadn't meant any harm.

"Boy did'n mean any harm..woul' jus' keep eyes an' ears open for next few days s'all" I said, and Shane gave me the same look he did Dale.

I shrugged at him.

Glenn noticed and clearly not wanting anyone else getting a bollocking off Shane for his actions, he apologized.

"..Got a cool car" He said with an ecstatic grin, and looked around at the faces.

I smirked at him once again as everyone else kept silent, shaking their heads and still looking a little disappointed in him.

I places an arm around Glenn's shoulders, the same smirk on my face.

"Its prutty freakin' cool" I chuckled, patting him on the back and then drawing my hand away.

He looked happy at the supportive comment.

The mood changed as we heard another vehicle approaching, and we all turned around to see a white van roll up the drive.

The back of the van opened, and Andrea stepped out.

"Amy?" She called and Amy ran forward immediately "Andrea!" she called, half sobbing as they met each other half way and hugged each other tightly.

I smiled and took a step back, letting everyone greet their families.

I noticed Lori and Carl stalking away from the commotion too, and I once again felt really sorry for the kid.

Lori got down on her knee's and started talking to Carl away from the group, and the boy looked like he was crying.

I fiddled with the sleeves on my shirt, and looked over to Glenn who also looked out of place with almost everyone having someone to greet except us.

I grinned and looked over at him

"Glad y'didn' die kid" I said nudging his elbow with mine.

"Yeah..me too..and I got to drive a cool car!" His infamous grin was across his face once again.

We turned away from everyone and began walking back towards the RV.

I reached over as I laughed and ruffled his hair "Yeah..I got tha' bit..ya might'a mentioned it once 'er twice.."

"How'd y'all get outta there anyway?" Shane asked Glenn as we got closer.

"New guy..got us out" He said smiling, turning back and realizing this 'new guy' hadn't got out of the van yet.

"New guy?" Shane questioned.

"Crazy just got into town..Hey helicopter boy..why don't you come say hello!" Morales called over to the tuck.

I turned to see who this new guy was, just as curious ass everyone else.

A man dressed in a cop's uniform looked up as he got out of the truck, hands on hips.

"Guy's a cop..just like you" Morales said as he was still embracing his wife under one arm and kids under the other.

The new 'helicopter boy's' face dropped and he stopped in his tracks as he looked past Glenn and I and at Shane.

Glenn and I shared a sideways glance, a little confused.

He looked dumbfounded as he scanned the group and laid eyes on Lori and Carl.

His jaw almost dropped to the ground.

I looked over to my right and saw Carl running towards the new guy.

"DAD! DAD" He shouted and ran and embraced the new guy who clutched him, both of them crying, almost on the ground.

Lori followed suit behind her son, walking towards this new guy but stopped half way there, her eyes wide in disbelief.

The new guy picked Carl up and walked towards Lori, embracing her and all three of them cried.

I couldn't help but look on and smile at the three of them.

I was truly happy that Carl had his father back and suddenly felt guilty for saying the things I had about him not coming back.

It turns out someone could be wrong about something as simple as death.

I was being proved wrong a lot lately.

This man was the luckiest son of a bitch alive, having survived a near death experience and finding his son and I assumed Lori was his wife.

Lori shot daggers at Shane over the new guy's shoulder.

It didn't go unnoticed.

The new guy and Shane exchanged a few glances and a wide, unspoken smile spread over both their faces.

I assumed they must have been good friends before all this.

I left them to it and walked over to the van and thought I would make myself useful by unloading the truck of supplies, bags and the little weapons there was.

When I was behind the van and with nobody to see, I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose thinking about the new guy finding his family in all of this mess.

Even though my early years were pretty awful, and as far am I have been concerned, I had no family.

Despite these facts, in this time it would still be nice to have a family to greet and care for.

'These people are good people' I thought to myself, and heard a pair of feet approaching and I quickly looked up to see who it was.

Glenn.

He half smiled at me and seemed to instantly understand.

I imagine he felt the same about not having family here too.

"Got somethin' for you in Altlanta" He announced to me, not bothering to ask any questions.

He silently already knew why I walked away.

I smiled lightly as he stepped up into the truck, pulling something out of a bag.

He handed me a large scabbard and I looked at him with wide eyes.

I pulled the large knife out of the scabbard slightly and examined it.

It was a felon.

A perfect knife for times like these.

"Morales has your rifle too.." Glenn looked at me shyly, and without thinking I wrapped my arms around him and embraced him in a friendly hug of thanks.

"Thank-ya' Glenn"

Even though I had barely known him, he was a good friend already.

He hugged me back and I then realize that I would think of Glenn like my brother from now on.

He really was a great kid and had no family here, just like me.

I was going to watch his back and he was going to watch mine.

Just like family.

'Damn gurl, these people are turnin' ya soft'

The voice was back, and even though I knew that I was going a little soft on these people, for once, I really didn't care.

They had given me a chance.

And company.

And sanctuary which probably saved my life.

I never thought this would ever cross my mind - 'Thank-you Dixon's' I thought silently.

In a way; I guess they kinda saved my ass.

**Authors note :**

**Ok, sooo! Neila is softening up a bit, huh. **

**I will explain more about her past throughout the story, don't worry! **

**Oh and Daryl comes back pissed in the next chapter! And Rick is now back in town :)**

** How do you think Neila will deal with it? ;)**

**Hope you guys liked it, again, please please review :) makes me more confident about my writing**

**Thanks y'all!**


	5. Chapter 5

CAPITALS= shouting

**Authors Note:**

**_Alex-Kurotan_i – thank-you for sticking with the story so far, hope you like this chapter!**

**_Grimes4Rick_ – thank-you for your lovely review! I'm glad your enjoying the story so far, yeah its nice to add Neila into our favorite classic stuff! She is one tough cookie!**

**_Poka_ – thank-you my love, I'm glad you like that they are friends. I think he is going to be giving Neila a little bit of "brotherly advice" after this chapter!**

**Ok, so here chapter 5 is everyone, if you have stuck with the story so far and are still enjoying**

**THANK-YOU so much, you guys rock!**

**Hope you enjoy, there are some Daryl/Neila moments in here for ya!**

* * *

"AAAAHHH!"

"MOM!" Carl called out.

Glenn and I were chatting over a morning meal and swiftly looked at each other.

We stood, then started sprinting towards the kids who were calling out.

I pulled out my new knife from its scabbard, running towards the noise faster than before.

Glenn following closely on my heels, and Rick just in front.

Lori grabbed Carl, Sophia ran to Carol.

Jacqui knelt in front of the kids and mothers.

I ran up, covering Rick with Glenn; and now Shane following.

As we approached the small open part of the forest, there was a deer in front of us.

And a walker feasting on it.

A moment behind us was Morales and Jim.

Amy and Andrea were watching from the outskirts looking disgusted at the sight.

The walker stood and turned to us all.

It growled and headed straight for Rick who hit it hard with the spear looking object Shane had thrown to him moments ago.

It didn't take long before the rest of the men joined in, beating it like a pinnate.

I stood back and rolled my eyes, but still clutched my knife.

It only took a few moments for Dale to intervene on the adult version of a 5 year olds birthday party.

He swung his Axe and brought it down on the walkers neck.

Hard.

Its head rolled off.

"So this's wha' Henry's six wives wen' throug' huh?" I raised an eyebrow, trying to make light of the situation.

Glenn smiled at me and offered a shrug, everyone else seems a little more serious about the situation.

"Thats the first one we have had up here" Dale said, the concern obvious in his shaky voice as he spoke. "They never come this far up the mountain.."

"Well they'r running out of food in the city..thats what" Jim spoke up, letting everyone know his theory.

He kept his voice down so the kids that were not far behind us couldn't hear.

I glanced over at the cooing mothers who were still checking their children were alright.

There was a rustle in the bushes nearby and everyone raised their weapons at the ready for what might jump out.

We waited a moment or two, adrenaline rushing.

Out strolled squirrel hunter who stopped in his tracks when he noticed Shane had a gun to his face.

"Awh Jesus" Shane muttered to himself as he realized it was him.

"Sunofabitch!" He announced as he saw the deer, he climbed over the obstacles the forest had created for him with ease.

"Tha's my deer!" He looked pissed and I noticed new guy didn't take his eyes off Daryl while he spoke. "look ah it all gnawed on by this..FILTHY" He kicked the walkers body "DECEASED BEARING, MOTHERLESS" And again "POXY" aaand..again "BASTARD"

I rolled my eyes at squirrel hunter.

"Fuckin' hicks" I mouthed to Glenn with a grin, but Daryl heard.

"Wha's tha' sunhin'?" He said, walking towards me, chest puffed out.

I just raised an eyebrow at him, amused.

"Calm down son, thats not helping.." Dale said, clearly not happy with Daryl's attitude either.

"Wha'd'you know about it ol' man?" Squirrel hunter changed the direction of his aggression to Dale who had Rick standing on one side and Shane edging closer to him on the other.

The cops looked like they were closing in as a defense.

"Take tha' stupid hat an' go on back to ole' golden pond!" Squirrel hunter backed away from Dale, knowing it was a waste of time.

He turned his attention back to the deer, pulling the arrows out of its body.

As he turned back to the deer, I noticed the loop of squirrels looped over his shoulder.

"Ben' trackin' this deer fur miles!" He announced, not calming down much. "Drag it back ta camp..cook us up some venison"

"Maybe ya shoul' jus' stick ta squirrels nex' time.." I said in his direction.

He looked up for a second, giving me a deathly glare.

"Wha' do ya think..? Think we can cut aroun' this chewed up par' right her'?" Daryl looked up around the faces surrounding him.

"Ya really wantin' an answer ta tha'?" I questioned.

"I would not risk that" Shane intervened, agreeing with me.

He looped his gun over the back of his shoulders, his hands looking floppy.

Dale was looking on at the situation in disbelief at Daryl's reactions.

Obviously the old man had never been in many southern parts..

"S' a damn shame..I go' some squirrel..bou' a dozen or so. Tha'll have ta do" He was still looking around at the faces as he spoke.

The walker's head moved.

The mouth opened and a few people took a step back in disgust.

Amy and Andrea turned to head back to camp, gagging.

"C'mon people wha' th-" Daryl aimed his bow at the head, finger on the trigger ready to shoot.

Just as he pulled the trigger, a lovely shiny looking felon made its way into the walkers head.

I threw it before I could think.

It was an easy target and I was at close range.

A girl gets lucky every now and then.

"-hell.." He finished his sentence and stared at me.

I reached down, pulled my knife out of the walkers head and walked back towards camp, not looking at squirrel hunter once.

I head the squelch from behind me as Daryl pulled out his arrow.

"Gotta be th' brain..don' y'all know nothin'?" I heard a set of footsteps follow closely behind me.

When I got back to camp, I dipped into my tent and pulled out an old rag that I kept handy.

I walked back outside, cleaning my blade which was now covered in walker blood when I heard Daryl yelling.

"MERLE! MERLE! Git your uglee ass ou' here!" He strutted into the middle of camp and people started turning around to watch what was about to take place. "Got us up som' squirrel..stew em up!"

I watched as the new guy approached squirrel hunter, calling after him.

"Daryl"

"Slow up a bit I need to talk to you" Shane called after Daryl and he swung around to face the deputy looking confused and irritated

"bou' wha" Was his only response.

"bout Merle." Shane walked past Daryl, not really glancing at him.

Shane was getting worse by the day.

Yesterday it was Amy's turn for his wrath..today, Daryl's.

"At leas' look at the man when ya talk to him" I said to Shane.

I didn't want to get involved, but I guess now I was.

Both the deputy and the squirrel hunter looked at me a little shocked.

Shane bit his tongue and looked at Daryl.

"There was a..ugh problem in at Atlanta" Shane explained.

Daryl turned and noticed that the men were forming a small semi circle around him.

I stood by the women, still cleaning my knife.

"He dead?" Daryl asked with no emotion.

He was still clutching his line of squirrels in one hand.

'like a hunter grasping his prize with pride' I thought smirking.

"not sure" was Shane's response and he went back to looking at the ground.

I saw the anger flash across Dixon's face. "HE either is or he ain'.."

New guy, who was watching the commotion from the outskirts walked up to Daryl.

He looked comfortable, walking with pride in his stride.

"Ain' no easy ways to say this, so I'll jus' say it"

That attitude was not going to get new guy very far with Daryl.

Having said that, any approach doesn't seem to get anyone very far with Daryl. By my observations, anyway.

"Who are you?" squirrel hunter demanded.

New guy didn't look at Daryl as he began to speak.

"Rick Grimes" New guy stated.

"Rick Grimes.." Dixon was mocking him "go' somethin' you wanna tell me?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all" Officer Grimes stood with his hands by his side looking pretty non-chalet about the whole situation. "So I handcuffed him on a roof an' hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there."

I saw T-Dog approaching with some wood and I motioned for him to lay off and not say anything.

"hmm. Let me process this." Dixon walked away from Rick, wiping one of his eyes. He walked straight back to the Sheriff.

"So..you handcuffed my brother to a roof..AND YOU LEFT HIM THERE?!"

Daryl looked furious and I could tell this was not going so well.

"Yeh." Was all the new guy had to say for himself.

I closed my eyes and shook my head as Daryl threw the line of squirrels at Grimes.

Dixon didn't get 2 paces towards knocking him out before deputy-do-good tackled him.

The tackle knocked him to the floor and in a split second, squirrel hunter pulled a knife out.

'should'a roughed him up first..' I thought to myself.

He jabbed a shot at Rick who took a step back and then restrained him and handed him to Shane who put him into a choke hold.

"HEY! Choke holds illegal!"

"Yeah? File a complaint"

Daryl thrusted around for a few more seconds before Shane brought him to the ground.

He was struggling to breathe now.

I could hear the gasping from where I stood.

"I would like to have a calm discussion on this topic..do you think we can manage that?" I put my knife back in its scabbard and walked over to the officers.

"Ain' gonna be able ta do tha' if ya fuckin' knock im' out caus' he can' breathe now...can ya'?" I raise an eyebrow at the two cops and put my hands on my hips firmly.

Dixon or not.

Prick or not.

Ain't letting these cops beat up a southern lad for something they did wrong.

"You think we can manage that?" Grimes asked squirrel hunter again.

He was going to pass out in a minute.

I could see that much.

I'm guessing they could too because they let him go with a tumble to the ground.

Grimes knelt down next to him in a patronizing way.

"What I did was not on a whim..your brother does not work and play well with others"

"Its not Rick's fault. I had the key" T-Dog cut in.

I threw my hands in the air and walked away, back towards Glenn.

"I told him..I fuckin' tol' him not ta say nothin'" I shook my head at T-Dog, Glenn shrugged.

"His funeral." I interlocked my hands and placing them on my head.

I was just plain pissed off now.

"I dropped the key" He looked down, a little ashamed.

"Wha, an' you couldn' pick it up?!" Squirrel hunter asked him, pushing himself up off the ground.

"I dropped it down a drain" T-Dog explained.

"If tha's supposed to make me feel better it don'!" Squirrel hunter threw some dirt back into the ground, ready to storm off.

"Well, maybe this will" T-Dog was trying to make it right.

He was trying.

Don' think he knew some of the southern attitudes on race very well.

"Look, I chained the door so the geeks couldn' get at him. With a padlock"

"That's got to count for something" Grimes cut in.

Again.

Damn, he just wanted to be all up in everyones business.

Dixon looked like he was wiping tears away.

Nobody even dared to ask if it was tears or sweat.

"FUCK all ya'll! Jus' tell me where he is so I can go get 'im!"

Lori cut in from where she was standing by the door of the RV.

"He'll show you..innit that righ'?" I could tell she was pissed that Rick was leaving to make things right.

"I'm goin' back."Rick confirmed what Lori didn't want to hear and she walked inside the RV to be with the kids.

After that, Daryl stormed off.

Just picked up his squirrel line and left, disappearing into what I assumed was his tent.

I sat in the middle of camp and Glenn handed me his water.

"Here.." I took a sip, and handed it back to him.

"Thanks..I'll uh..be back in a minute" My eyes were fixed on Dixon's tent that was on the edge of camp.

I could tell Glenn was still watching me from behind.

Chapping on the fabric slightly, all I heard was "th' fuck?"

I was going to take it as an invite to enter, whether it was or not.

I moved the fabric aside and stepped in, finding Daryl's tent surprisingly clean.

Daryl was sitting on the edge of his cot, arrows in hand, cleaning them.

He had no shirt on and now I saw the meaning of the response I got when I chapped.

He stood up raising his arms, frustrated.

He reached over to the other side of his cot for his shirt.

I couldn't help but sneak a look at his perfectly defined muscles but quickly snapped out of it.

"Wha' the hell?" He put on his dirty, usual green tank and slipped it on as quickly as he could.

"Sorry. Somehow I thoug' 'th' fuck' was 'yea' in our tongue" I started at him, and couldn't believe it when I got a smirk.

"Problem is, barely any these folk speak it. So when ah say 'th fuck' I mean it" He raises his hand to the entrance as if pointing outside to the other folk.

"Wha'cha lookin' fur anyway?"

Squirrel hunter bent down and pulled out a pack of Marlboro cigarettes and put one between his lips then offered me the packet.

I swear my eyes lit up a little bit I stepped further into his tent and took one out of the packet and handed them back to him with a smile.

He lit his cigarette and sat back down on his cot where he was before.

"wha's with ya bein' nice?" I asked, still a little shocked about the change in attitude from 10 minutes earlier.

He held a lighter out to me, not looking at me.

I took it and lit my cigarette, still cautious about his change in attitude.

"Was'n you who tied ma fuckin' brother to a roof an' left im ta die" He said as he picked an arrow up from where he had tossed them.

Cigarette half hanging out his mouth he began cleaning them again.

I took a long drag, which made my head spin lightly.

It had been too long since I had the luxury of a cigarette.

"May I?" I nodded to the other end of his cot so I could sit. "Figues since we'r bein' all polite now" I smirked a little bit.

"Don' know why yer askin' yer invitin' yerself in here anyways, migh' as well" I sat on the other end of the cot, and couldn't help but quickly scan the tent.

I glanced at Daryl as I smoked.

My head was getting lighter with ever drag.

"Ya still didn' answer ma question gurl. What'd'ya want?" I looked to my left and decided it was now or never.

"Ya'r goin' to get Merle, yeh?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"Wha's yer point" He stopped cleaning the arrow he was on, flicked his ash away and turned to face me.

Apparently I had caught his attention.

"I wanna come with ya to get 'im" I glared back at him, letting him know I was deadly serious.

"Why?" He shrugged his shoulders and looked a little bewildered at my logic. "to ya he's jus' some hick tha' stole from ye an' ye said yerself he's a prick"

"Yeh. He is a douche bag, and a prick" Squirrel hunter's eyes narrowed a little at someone else calling his brother these things. "S'jus'.." I shrugged slightly "He's a southern boy. Ain' he?"

"Gurl, that is the stupidest fuckin' logic I have ever heard" He still stared at me seriously.

"Plus we need all th' help we can get roun' here" I shrugged.

My logic made sense to me.

"Ain' gonna stop ya comin', I ain' doin' no fuckin' babysittin' though. Ya hold yer own ou' there"

"Dixon, wha' the fuck have I ever done ta made ya think I can't handle ma own?" I raided an eyebrow at him, wondering why he ever thought I would need babysitting.

PHHT!

As is I would let Dixon babysit me even if I did bloody need it.

He finished his cigarette and threw it into an empty cola can then handed it to me.

I did the same and placed it back where it was before.

"Don' need no reason to think ya cant, until ya prove that ya can hold yer own" He smirked at me "Now go an' fuck off an' do whaever it is y'do 'roun here"

"Happily" I chuckled and stood up to leave.

I turned back to the younger Dixon on the way out and whispered a small thanks.

I walked straight back over to my own tent, ignoring the strange looks I was getting from Glenn on the way.

When I got to my tent, I looked through my small pile of 'now clean' clothes to see which would be most practical for a run to Atlanta.

I chose my now-clean black combats and my usual lace up boots. I had a clean green tank that I threw on over the top.

I stuffed some essential things into the pockets that ran up the outer thighs and eventually attached my knife to my belt.

I glanced down at my appearance and nodded, satisfied that I had everything.

I went through the motions in my head, just double checking as I stalked back out of my tent and over the bark to where the rest of camp was gathered.

"Going somewhere?" Glenn smirked at me as I turned just on time to see it disappear.

That's when I noticed the Grimes cop and Shane arguing.

"Just tell me why! Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?" He said, following closely after Rick.

Daryl heard this and didn't look amused as he was finishing off cleaning his arrows.

He shot Shane a challenging look.

"Hey..choose yer words more carefully.."

"Oh no, I did, douche bag is what I meant.." Shane gave Daryl the same challenging look back and turned his attentions back to Rick.

"Merle Dixon.." He spat his name out as if it was poison. "wouldn' give you a glass of water if you were dyin' of thirst.."

Rick looked frustrated, not quite understanding why nobody was seeing it from his point of view.

"What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me..I can't let a man die of thirst..ME. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap, that's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being"

"So, you and Daryl? Thats your big plan" Lori said, cutting into the conversation.

Rick silently turned to where Glenn was, looking at him in a way that let him know he wanted him to come along.

"Awch, come on.." was Glenn's response.

I looked to my left where he stood and watched the exchange between the two of them.

Glenn pulled his hat off and wiped his brow of sweat before popping it back on and listened to Rick.

"You know the way, in and out, no problems, you said yourself..no problems..Its not fair of me to ask, I know that, but I would feel much better with you along. I know she would too" he motioned across to where Lori and Carl sat.

I piped up from where I was standing to Glenn's side.

I leaned against the car, but stood up straight as I looked at the new guy.

"M' comin' too.." I stared at him seriously and he gave a curt nod, eying me up slightly.

I stood up a little straighter and pushed my head up a little, letting him know that I planned to handle my own.

"tha's just great, now your gonna risk 3 men, and a woman huh!" Shane said, cutting into our body language conversation.

"Four.." T-Dog cut in. Daryl looked over at him then back down to his arrows with a smirk.

"Phht..my day jus' get better and better, doesn't it?" He said to everyone in a sarcastic tone as he continued cleaning arrows.

"See anybody else here standin' up to save yer brother's cracka' ass?" T-Dog said in response to Daryl.

The tension was still thick between them.

"Yeh, but why you?" Daryl responded, still not looking T-Dog in the eye.

"You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don' speak my language.."

"That's 5.." Dale said looking around at the faces

"It's not just 5, your putting every single one of us at risk, just know that Rick..C'mon, you saw that walker, it was here. In Camp" Shane said as a matter of factually.

"They move out of the cities, they come back, we need every able body we got,we need em' here, we need em' to protect camp!"

Shane barely took a breath as he spoke.

"Seems like what you need most here, are guns.."

"Right..the bag of gun!" Glenn spoke up, his eyes lighting up slightly and I looked at him a little confused.

"Guns?" I questioned him and Shane did the same

"What guns?"

"6 shout guns, 2 high powered rifles, an' over a dozen handguns.." Rick rolled the list of guns off

Everyone seemed a little more happy about this run now, their faces perking up a little.

I glanced around at them, not believing them.

Only now, they all knew something important to protect camp was involved.

"Y'all are unreal..don' wan' nobody to go save a person, but as soon as guns are mentioned ya wan' ta go in all arms raises up with a grin? Phht!" I said to all of them and walked away from the scene.

I didn't care what they thought of me or my outburst.

I walked down the dirt path slightly and opened the new truck that was brought back from Atlanta last time.

I threw my rucksack into the back, waiting for whoever was coming on this run.

I rested my head on the steering wheel, enjoying the coolness of the shade.

I was still in shock at how inhuman they were being about the matter.

Raising my head up a few moments later, just on time to see Daryl leaning his arm against the window of the van, peering in at me.

"Ain' no way yer drivin'.."

I raised my eyebrow at his comment "an' why the hell not?"

"Need ya elsewhere.." He looked a little nervous as he chewed on the skin around his thumb. "Let china man drive..he ain' much fuckin' use at takin' down walkers an' if we ge' swarmed on the way there.."

I nodded, understanding his point.

"Fine.."

I twisted my body and walked through the truck, jumping out of the drivers seat and opening the back shutter, exposing the whole van to the deadly hot Georgia sunlight.

I saw Glenn appearing a few seconds later, keys in hand as he stepped up into the back of the truck and made his way to the front seat.

He muttered an "y'alrigh'?" as he sat in the drivers seat.

Giving him a small, curt nod I held onto one of the ropes in the back as he started the engine and began to reverse up the path to camp.

A noise rang out as the van reversed.

Daryl reappeared a few moments later with his crossbow slung over his shoulder.

He easily pulled his body up into the back of the truck and Glenn stopped the van but left the engine running.

Daryl walked to the front and placed it down behind Glenn's seat with a small "hmph"

"th' fuck are they doing?" I asked to nobody in particular, nodding towards Rick and T-Dog who were talking to Dale like it was Sunday and they were having lunch at church.

Daryl began pacing the back of the truck, and I could see he was getting frustrated and didn't want to wait for them any longer.

We waited on them a few more minutes when Daryl lost the plot.

He walked to the front of the wan and leaned his foot over Glenn, slamming it down on the horn.

Glenn raised his hands in shock and looked up at me.

I gave him a small shrug.

"C'MON LET'S GO!" He shouted across camp, his voice carrying and Rick turned around, walking towards the truck.

When they reached where the truck was parked, T-Dog hopped in and sat down with the dirty floor underneath him.

I did the same and slid my back against the walls, sitting opposite him.

Shane and Rick were talking about guns and I rolled my eyes.

Either they really wanted to piss Dixon off, or they just wanted Merle to die.

Whichever it was, they sure as hell were taking their time.

I looked over at T-Dog, giving him a small smile.

He looked worried, and gave me a small smile back.

He held some bolt cutters and I raised an eyebrow "wha' they fur?"

"The door.." He replied but was cut off as Rick got into the truck as well, jumping into the passenger side and closing the door roughly behind him.

It took Glenn a moment and Daryl roughly closed the shutter which hid the light in the back.

The darkness matched everyone's mood and as Glenn pulled away from camp, the air was thick.

Everyone was on edge and feeling the tension.

Daryl slid down the side of the truck, sitting at the back.

I felt a pair of eyes on me and glanced over to T-Dog who appeared to be looking out the front window.

Stealing a glance to my right, I noticed it was Daryl's eyes on me.

He looked away as fast as he could and bit down on his lip, chewing at the loose skin.

'He ain' so bad lookin' ya know..' the voice in my head told me what I already knew.

"Shut up.." I replied to it.

I mentally shrugged, wanting it just to bugger off.

It was no time for internal battles.

I looked to the front of the truck, noticing Glenn watching the exchange between us through the mirror.

I offered him a smile but knew it was no use.

I was going to get questioned by him when; and if we made it back to camp.

"Off to the big city.." was my last thought as we began to make out way down towards what I had assumed would be our death.

* * *

**Authors note:**

**Ah I know I'm so mean stopping here, but I hope you guys like the exchanges between Daryl and Neila in this chapter!**

**Glenn has a watchful eye on both of them...! **

**It might be time for a "brotherly chat.." ;)**

**I know this is a long chapter and chapter 6 will be up soon!**

**Thanks for reading**

**~Nia**


	6. Chapter 6

CAPITALS:** shouting**

**Autors Note:**

**Hello my lovely readers!, hope you like this chapter, I know I have changed things around a little bit, but hope you like it!**

**Poka: Thank-you so much, I'm glad you think Ive kept Daryl in character! I found him hard to write to start with, so I really hope you think he's still in character in this chapter too :)**

**Alex-Kurotani: Yeah sneaky looks are always great! Hope you like this one :)**

**Grimes4Rick & Xiomara Rosario : Thank-you so much for all your support you guys, your both freaking amazing!**

**Enjoy & please let me know what you think!**

**~Nia**

* * *

Glenn brought the van to a halt on the railway line just outside of the city.

"We walk from here.." He announced to everyone.

Grimes got out first and Daryl opened the back of the van for T-Dog and I to get out.

When we standing on the rail line, Glenn turned to me, with concern ridden through his face.

We started jogging along the rail line to the center of the city.

T-Dog had his bolt cutters in hand.

Daryl with his bow slung over his shoulder.

Glenn had no weapons which made me a little nervous.

I had my rifle slung over my shoulder which bounced against the back of my leg as I ran.

As we jogged, I glanced around, checking for any walkers that might come at us.

The derelict train line gave an eerie essence to the city and what we might find there.

I tried my best not to think about how many walkers were up ahead in the streets.

I could picture the walkers feasting on bodies in the streets of Atlanta.

Trying to push the thoughts to the back of my head, I felt the sun beating down on the tarmac as we approached the city center.

My breath heavy from running, I took the chance when we stopped to try and get it back.

We approached under the rail bridge which was wasting away.

My paranoia about the whole situation was getting worse as I realized twe hadn't seen a walker since we left the van.

'Off to yer death..' I thought as I climbed through the chicken wire fence.

Glenn held the wire back and I went after the rest of them that were alrady on the other side.

Grimes and Dixon were having a debate about whether they were getting the guns or Merle first.

I rolled my eyes at the two of them.

"You know the geography, its your call.." Rick said as he turned to Glenn who stood beside me.

We began jogging towards where the department store was.

"Merle's closest..The guns would mean doubling back. Merle first" Glenn said between breaths.

He sounded knackered.

We only saw two walkers for the rest of out jog to the department store.

Daryl took both down easily and silently with his crossbow.

We quietly walked through the side door to the store.

"Wha' the hell?" I whispered, looking at the cut up body on the floor.

My hands flew to my nose to cover the ranched smell.

All the intestines were missing, a few hands.

It was a downright bloody mess.

There was a blood covered axe next to the body which confused me.

'Walkers don't carry weapons..' I thought to myself.

Rick and Glenn looked at me then turned back to keep walking.

Clearly they either didn't know or didn't want to explain.

T-Dog was behind me and whispered "He helped us get out of here alive.."

I wrinkled my nose up at the rancid smell once again and followed behind the others.

I didn't even want to know the story behind that.

We walked up the stairs to the ground floor of the store.

We stalked in as quietly as we could, silent weapons raised and senses alert.

I was surprised that there was barely any walkers around.

In my head that meant bad news.

'Means we'r gonna run into hella lot more later..' The voice told me.

Every logical part of my brain told me that I shouldn't be on this run.

I woke out of my thoughts when new guy held up a hand in the army gesture 'STOP MOVING' it told us all.

Grimes pointed to a walker and Daryl milled forward silently like a hunter taking down its prey.

"Daang..You are one ugly skank!" He said as he looked at the walker.

"PING" you heard the string of his crossbow shoot forward and take her down.

You heard the "SQUELCH" as the arrow made its way into her brain.

And finally the "THUD" came when she hit the ground.

"He always this charming?" I mockingly said to T-Dog with a roll of my eyes.

He grinned a little, but I could tell he was just keen to get up onto the roof and get Merle down.

You could see in his eyes he felt awful for leaving him behind.

He ran like a coward and he knew it.

But didn't everyone?

Wouldn't I in that situation?

That didn't matter, we were here to get him now.

Dixon retrieved his arrow and wiped it on his pants.

I rolled my nose up a little.

We kept our formation and moved towards what I assumed was the stairs to the roof.

Taking the steps two at a time, we reached the 6th floor when my breathing got rugged again.

I heard T-Dog behind me who had been breathing heavily since the 3rd floor.

Using the banister to haul my body up the stairs at the same pace as before, we reached the roof a short while later.

T-Dog took a moment to recover his breathing and stepped forward to unclip the chain with the bolt cutters.

Daryl threw his foot at the door and it opened with ease.

We squeezed through after him as fast as we could.

We knew he would be on the brink of dying from dehydration.

Upon crossing the bridge after Daryl, T-Dog, Rick and Glenn, I was astounded by the sight.

A hand?

That was all.

I am assuming they left Merle here and Daryl seemed to add the odds up in his head.

"No..NAW!" He shouted, repeating it over and over.

There was a pool of blood by Merle's hand and a saw.

"Jesus." I said aloud to myself.

Glenn turned to look at me with wide eyes as Daryl kept shouting.

I was wary of the fact that he would bring walkers down on us.

Everyone was.

Except Daryl.

He was yelling like a fuckin' banshee.

He stopped saying anything for a moment and stared at Merle's hand.

I shook my head and shielded my eyes from the sun for a second.

'Dang its hot' I thought to myself.

Daryl raised his crossbow in T-Dog's face.

I almost missed it, it happened so fast.

In the same instant, Rick took the safety off his gun and had it to Daryl's head.

Glenn and I watched on at the scene from the outskirts, not wanting to get involved.

There was a masculine war going on.

"I won't hesitate. I don't care if every walker in the city hears it" Rick told Daryl he was not lowering his weapon through these words.

Squirrel hunter waited a few more moments and scrunched his eyes up.

He gave in and lowered his bow.

I heard Glenn let our the breath he was holding in and we watched as Daryl stare T-Dog out.

They didn't take their eyes off each other once and Dixon broke the silence asking to T-Dog:

"You..y'got a do rag or som'thin?"

I looked over at the handcuffs that were used to chain Merle were hanging from the metal pipe as an eerie reminder of what he had to go through to escape.

I stepped down to where the boys were having their exchange and eyes Merle's hand, my stomach doing flips at the thoughts of what he had to go through.

Daryl cautiously walked to Merle's hand after taking the rag off T-Dog.

I placed a kind hand on T-Dog's shoulder, happy that squirrel hunter didn't put an arrow through his brain.

We all watched on as Daryl bent down and picked Merle's hand up by a finger.

By the looks of the hand, I half expected it to snap off when he picked it up.

It looked like something you would see in a haunted house.

All bloody and strewn on the floor.

As lifeless as I imagined Merle now was.

"I'm uhh..guessin' th' saw blade was too dull for th' handcuffs..uh..ain't that a bitch"

Daryl noted as I was him turning Merle's hand in his own

My stomach turned again and I glanced away

I walked over to the edge of the building and looked over, checking the alley for walkers.

There was barely any milling around and this made me even more on edge.

Glenn noticed as I turned away, but was watching Daryl and the older Dixon's remains.

"He must'a used a turn'a'gate..maybe his belt..be much more blood if he didn't" Dixon had his crossbow and the hand had disappeared.

I turned back to the four of them, still standing by the edge of the building.

I watched as squirrel hunter started stalking off and following the blood trail.

Glenn and Rick started to follow him and I took that as my cue to do the same.

T-Dog went to grab the rest of the tools that had been of little use to Merle.

I followed behind the three in front of me and T-Dog had now caught up, tool box in hand.

We followed the blood trail to the opposite side of the roof to the entrance we had come in.

Slowly, we started climbing down the stairs, new guy with his gun raised and squirrel hunter with his bow in front of his face.

"MERLE! YOU IN HERE?" He called out through the empty stairwell, his voice carrying and echoing through the hopefully vacant rooms.

We went down a couple floors, still following the blood trail and found ourselves in the middle of the building.

'Don't wanna be in the middle if this place is overrun..' The voice said to me.

I rolled my eyes and thought back 'Negative Nelly!'

I heard Daryl's crossbow string "ping" back, "squelch" through a walkers brain and "thud" as the body hit the ground.

I was only a few steps behind, but took my knife out its scabbard just in case.

I adjusted my rifle on my shoulder slightly, making sure it was secure and not going to fall off.

As Dixon said "You hold ye own ou' there.." and that's what I planned to do.

We rounded the corner into a once reception looking area.

I bet this was one of those nice, fancy lawyers offices or something.

All fancy and friendly, expensive and welcoming.

It didn't look very welcoming any more.

There was papers strewn over the floor and two dead walkers in the middle of the room.

I glanced away from the walkers and into the corners of the room, checking for any others that might be lurking around.

"Had enoug' in 'im to take these two sun'o'bitches.." He announced to everyone.

I glanced around the room.

Filing cabinets were on the floor, soil from the plants strewn everywhere.

It looked like a crime scene on CSI.

One of those ones where a lawyer had fucked someone over and he had got his share of the primal justice system.

"One handed.." Daryl finished and I turned back to them, stopping myself from scanning any more of the room.

"Toughest asshole I ever met, my bruther..feed 'im a hammer 'e'd crap ou' nails.." Squirrel hunter pulled the string back on his bow and I watched the muscles in his arm harden as he did.

I mentally scolded myself and moved along with my thoughts and stared the the very interesting ground.

"Any man can pass out from blood loss..no matter how tough he is" New guy said.

He pretty much ignited a match on any hope we had left of finding Merle.

I rolled my eyes and followed behind Grimes, keeping on his heels with my felon raised.

I noticed Dixon followed closely behind me.

The formation changed.

Walking further into the store, we kept following the blood trail, rounding a corner behind Grimes, Daryl grabbed my arm pulling me back through the doorway.

"MOTHER-!" I shouted at him, but was cut off as he pressed the trigger on his bow and took down the walker that was coming from the opposite direction.

"Th' fuck happen'd ta holdin' yer own?" He raised an eyebrow at me as he went to go and retrieve his arrow.

"Look both way's 'fore ya step off th' sidewalk sunshin'.." He picked his arrow out then shook his head and glared at me.

The formation changed again as squirrel hunter swapped places with me and was now behind Rick.

We all followed him into the next doorway.

"MERLE!" He called.

"We're not alone here." Rick said sharply at Daryl.

"Screw tha'..he could be bleedin' out..y'said so yerself.." Daryl took the front again, walking into a kitchen.

I followed in behind Rick.

The air stank of gas from a stove.

And flesh.

The type of smell that you will never forget until your dying day.

I felt that day getting a little closer minute by minute.

I peeked into the room and saw a stove on with blood everywhere.

"What's that burnt smell?" Glenn said from behind me.

Walking further into the room, I eyed the stove that was still on.

He made his way into the room after me and took a deep breath at the sight he saw.

Blood dripped on the floor, the stove.

Hell, it was everywhere.

"Skin.." Rick answered Glenn with an eerie tone.

"Seriously..he cauterized his own hand?" I wrinkled my nose up and shook my head at the thought of how much pain surviving through this Merle had gone through.

"He cauterized the stump.." Rick explained to Glenn.

"Told you he was tough..nobody can kill Merle but Merle.." Daryl spoke to Rick with conviction.

I was a little more impressed at the hick now.

On the other hand, he would have had a hell of a time trying to get out the city.

"Don't take that on faith..he's lost a lotta blood.." New guys said, looking around at the blood covered stove.

"Yeh..didn't stop him from bustin' outta this death trap.." Squirrel hunter walked further into the kitchen, looking out of a window that lead down onto a fire escape.

The glass was broken on one of the panes.

"He left the building? Why the hell would he do that?" Glenn spoke up.

"Didn't know we wer' comin' back for 'im did he?" I raised an eyebrow as I answered Glenn, and Daryl confirmed my thoughts.

"Why wouldn' he? He's out ther' alone, as far as he knows.." He leaned down on the ledge of the window and I was about to take a closer look when Grimes stuck his head out and peered down to the ground.

"Only wha' he's gonna do..survivin'.." Daryl rolled off in his southern drawl.

"You call that survivin? Jus' wandering 'round the streets maybe passin' out?" T-Dog threw in. "What are his odds out there?"

Bad things to say.

Daryl cut in.

"No worse than being handcuffed an' bein' left ta rot by you sorry pricks.." Daryl started circling T-Dog like a vulture on its prey.

He turned his attention to new guy.

"You couldn't kill 'im.." He was making them all feel worse than they already did.

Glenn held his hands pressed against his face.

I knew he wondered why in the hell we were going around and around this topic in circles.

I was wondering the exact same thing.

"Y'ain' so worried about some dumb dead bastard.." Daryl was prodding the bull with the stick.

I watched them all puff their chests out, trying to make their points and figting over this like fucking primal animals.

Maybe that's what this had turned us into.

"How about a thousand dumb dead bastards? Different story?" Grimes locked eyes with squirrel hunter and I decided to intervene.

"Woul' you two cut it th' fuck out? Please? W'needin' ta find Merle..not argue over petty fuckin' thangs, ok? Now how far ou' is tha' bag of guns?" I cut into their argument again.

They both looked over at me and Daryl smirked sarcastically.

"Fine..i'mma go get 'im.." Daryl stared between me and Rick and it took a second for new guy to shove him roughly in the chest.

"Daryl, WAIT" He was trying to tame a wild dog.

It wasn't going to work.

Wasn't just any wild dog.

Then again, new guy didn't strike me as just being an average tamer.

"You can' stop me!" Dixon we back at staring Grimes down again.

"He's family, I get that..I went through hell to find mine.."

I watched them both.

New guy pulled out another card.

Empathy with a Dixon.

Wrong or right card?

"I know exactly how ya feel..He won't get far with tha' injury and we could help you check a few block around..but ONLY if we keep a level head" Rick stared at Daryl.

Was new guys card going to work?

I glanced between the two of them.

"We can do tha'" Was squirrel hunters response and I heard T-Dog breathe out in relief.

Grimes looked over at T-Dog who explained he was not walking around the streets with no guns.

They debated it over for a few minutes and squirrel hunter saw the sense in getting guns before going traipsing around the city on just good will.

He had a point.

I would feel much better knowing the people around me were armed too.

We walked back through the way we came and found a nearby office in the same block we were already in.

"How we gonna do this?" Rick asked Glenn when we got there.

Glenn was kneeled on the floor.

Daryl hunched over on the outside of the close knit circle.

Grimes, pacing.

I sat on one of the desks, legs swung over the edge, looking down at Glenn's plan of action.

I had my rifle sitting over my lap.

T-Dog has his knees pulled up to his chest and I couldn't read his expression from where he sat opposite me.

"You are not doing this alone" Rick cut in as Glenn was explaining.

"Even I think its a bad idea and I don' even like you much.."

This was Dixon's way of saying that he thought Glenn was'nt capable of his plan and he was going to get himself killed.

I knew differently.

Glenn had explained to me before that working alone was easier.

Faster.

Safer.

"Its a GOOD idea..Ok? If you just hear me out. If we go in a group, we are slow. Drawing attention." New guy bent down and had a closer look at Glenn's plan that was laid out with stationary that was lying around.

The office was cramped and messy.

Someone had rummaged through it.

Just like the reception we first went into

Like CSI.

Except everyone in Atlanta was now a suspect and they were hungry for us.

Someone had torn through the office looking for something that was now trivial.

Papers that were once important all over the floor.

Photo's from people's desks now on the floor.

Trivia.

I snapped my head and attentions back to the survival plan that Glenn was explaining.

"Look..that's the tank, about 5 blocks from where we are now. That's the bag of guns.." He started placing the paper clips and scrunched up paper onto his makeshift map. "Here's the alley I dragged you to when we first met. That's where Daryl and I will be"

"Why me?" Daryl perked up, looking at the plan.

"Your crossbow is quieter than Neila's gun. If I run into any trouble, I don't want a city of walkers brought down on us..Neila, I want you on top, stay up on the roof. Your rifle is of more use to us up there.." I stared at Glenn.

He had a point, yes I would be more use on the roof, but he was also trying to keep me off the ground in-case for some reason a city of walkers did come down on us.

I gave him a curt nod.

There was no point in arguing.

"While Daryl waits here in the alley, I run up the street, grab the bag."

"But you got us elsewhere..?"

"Yeah..Right, you will be in this alley here."

"Two blocks away? Why?"

"I might not be able to come back the same way. Walkers might get cut off, If that happens, I wont go back to Daryl. I'll go forward instead..all the way around to that alley way you guys are.. We will also have eyes on the roof. Neila has her rifle, she can see everything on the street from this roof here.."

Glenn looked up to get everyone's approval of his plan.

It was well thought out and now I see that it wasn't quite as stupid as I first thought it was.

"Afterwards..we will all meet back here" Glenn finished.

"Hey, kid what'd ya do 'fore all of this?" Daryl asked looking over at Glenn

"I delivered pizza's..why?"

Glenn didn't get an answer from Grimes or Dixon and we all stood up, knowing Glenn's plan.

We reached the roof again, T-Dog and Grimes looked around at the rest of us.

"Stay quiet and stay sharp" He told Glenn, Daryl and I.

Rick's eyes lingered on me for a few moments before going back to T-Dog and he nodded, letting him know they were ready to go.

The walked off in the other direction to us, and we soon lost sight of them.

Daryl looked down at the ladder that would take them to the ground.

He slung his crossbow over his shoulder and motioned for Glenn to go first.

Glenn stayed beside me and looked over and I could see he was terrified.

It was written all across his face, and why the hell wouldn't he be?

I pulled my rifle off my shoulder and in front of me, the barrel facing the ground and I turned my head to face him.

"Be safe.."

"Your my eyes on the roof, I get into trouble, you shoot, ok?" I nodded and noted his panicked voice.

I placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed to let him know I had understood.

"Alrigh.." I nodded to Dixon who blatantly ignored me and called out to Glenn something along the lines of.

"Hurry th' fuck up.."

I headed off towards my watch point.

I didn't really like heights, but I had to push the thought away.

I found myself looking through the meshed steel that made a bridge over the alley and between the two buildings.

My head span lightly and I kept walking, trying not to look down.

It was hard not to.

One of those human curiosity things.

I reached the other side of the bridge and ran from where I was to the other side of the tall building.

As I looked over the edge and down onto the street, I noticed that it seemed to be quiet.

Much less walkers that I expected.

I saw a red cap that I knew must be Glenn stalk out the alley onto the main street.

Watching him intently, I picked my rifle up and looked through the scope, he stalked, weaving in and out of cars.

He was good and so far, he only had one walker on his trail.

I kept the walker in my vision, as well as Glenn so that I could take it down if I needed to.

"c'mon, c'mon, cm'mon.." I said to myself as Glenn grabbed the guns and headed back to where Daryl was.

I heard shouting..

"AUDIME! AUDIME!" The noise echoed, it echoed for a few blocks.

"Wha' th' hell..?" I ran to the other side of the roof in a hurry and peered over,

Daryl was kneeled over some kid who was still shouting.

"Fuck!" I brought my rifle down, trying to see through the scope properly, but there was scaffolding and stairs in the way.

"DAMNIT!" I shouted and moved myself to try and get a better shot of the kid that was going to end up getting us all killed.

"Damn.." I pulled the safety off, loaded my bullet into the chamber and focused on the kid.

Two other men that we didn't know appeared in my scope and started kicking Daryl to the ground.

'You gotta take them down..' the voice nagged at me and I knew.

I breathed in deeply.

Focused on the man with a bat.

Focused on his head more specifically.

I breathed out and pulled my finger down on the trigger.

I felt that backlash from this rifle push into my shoulder.

"BANG"

The noise rang through my ears and I tried to block the ringing out as I reloaded the next bullet into the chamber.

Daryl was still getting kicked by the other man who was now splattered in his friends blood.

He stopped for a second after his friend was shot and his eyes widened until he went back to beating Daryl, bringing a boot down on his face.

Again, and again.

Taking out his partner just seemed to make him angrier.

Still in the process of reloading, my attention turned to Glenn who had now come into the alley and stopped, shocked.

"Tha's the bag man, get the bag!" I heard them shouting, but their voices were droned out be my focusing.

A car pulled up at the entrance to the alley and someone came up behind Glenn with a knife to his throat.

He pulled Glenn back towards the car.

"Fuck!" I fired and missed, the man who was kicking Daryl ran towards the car.

Glenn tried to get away from the man holding him, but he was roughly thrown into the back seat of the car.

I tried to aim for them again.

I tried to hit a tire or another person, but I couldn't hit anything or anyone without possibly hitting Glenn.

"FUCK!" I threw my rifle to the ground and held my head in my hands for a moment.

I saw Grimes and T-Dog appear in the alley.

I looked down and picked my rifle up.

I ran across to the other roof and made my way down the ladder.

My rifle was slung over my shoulder and I moved as fast as I could.

Walkers, there were lots of walkers on the gate that Glenn disappeared through and Daryl was furious.

We needed to get out of this alley, get away from the crime scene.

'Before the cops catch us..' the voice rang in my head, it l sighed, mocking me.

Infuriating me even more.

I reached the bottom of the ladder and heard my boots make a "thud" against the ground.

I ran over to the kid and kicked him square in the face.

He curled over into the fetal position, and I couldn't help myself.

I kicked him again, and again and wouldn't have stopped if Grimes hadn't pulled me off him

T-Dog was watching Daryl.

I fought against Rick for a moment or two until I gave up.

I shimmied my shoulders out of his grasp and looked down angrily.

I looked at the ground, breathing heavily, and nobody said a thing.

"We need to get outta here.." Was the only words I uttered a few moments later.

I linked my hands at the back of my head and roughly shoved my forehead into the stone wall.

Hard.

The pain helped, I had failed everyone here, and I had failed Glenn.

I shook my head against the wall, feeling the blood rush to my forehead.

There was something wet down the sid of my head.

I didn't care.

Rick and T-Dog were getting the kid up, trying to make him climb the stairs at the end of the alley.

Rick slung the bag of guns over his shoulder and motioned for Daryl to pick them up and carry them.

Daryl picked them up and went to the bottom of the ladder.

I turned and looked at the man I had shot.

I looked down at his body, shame and guilt overwhelming me.

I was still furious.

Extremely furious.

Blood pooled around the body and I couldn't help but walk over and kick it angrily.

I failed them.

I crouched down and held my head in my hands.

I didn't notice Daryl watching me.

He was watching from the bottom of the ladder.

He threw the bag of guns down at the bottom and walked back towards me.

"C'mon..gotta get outta here..ya did wha' was righ, now stop bein a fuckin' gurl an le's go" He said as he placed a hand on my shoulder.

I looked up and saw he actually smiled at me.

How the hell did he go from being the angriest mother fucker alive to actually being nice?

I have no idea.

All I knew was that someway, somehow, I will get Glenn back.

I had to.

He was as good as I will get to my own flesh and blood.

I looked up and Daryl who pulled a rag out his pocket and handed it to me.

I gave him a questioning look and then noticed I had a trickle of blood down my head from where I banged it against the wall.

I took it and nodded in a thanks.

Walking up towards the bottom of the ladder, I knew that some way we were still alive.

I didn't know if Glenn was.

I was covering him and I should have just waited a few moments.

I turned and looked at the man I shot one last time then looked up and started to climb the steps to the ladder.

'At least it will be the fall that kills you..' the voice was a smart-ass mother fucker.

* * *

**Authors Note:**

**So there it is, chapter 6 for you all.**

**Hope you enjoyed it! Please let me know R&R**

**So, Neila stepped up and shot one of the guys huh.**

**What do you think about that?**

**Really long chapter this time :)**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Until next week, thats all, catch me on twitter at HellsSlurpees for updates!**

**~Nia**

.


	7. Chapter 7

_Italics: Flashback_

**Authors Note:**

**Hello y'all!**

**So, here is chapter 7 where we see Neila and the group go to Guillermo's and not everything goest to plan..**

**Also, got one of Neila's childhood memories at the start**

**Hope you enjoy, there is also a little bit of Daryl POV in this chapter.**

**Freckles The Wanderer: Well here, your going to find out what happens the first time they go to Guillermo's..enjoy! Glad your liking the story so far!**

**Poka: Well, here you find out a little why Neila's first reaction was to run from the police from chapter 6! Hope you like this chapter, its quite controversial and we see a little of Neila's past :) Also some more Daryl/Neila moments!**

**Anon: Glad your liking the story!**

**Thanks so much for everyone who has stuck with the story this far! Enjoy this chapter and please, review & let me know what you think :)**

* * *

I_ pulled my knees up to my chest and sat in the corner of the room. The walls were peeling and the whole house smelled damp._

_The carpet was tearing up at the edges, folding up towards the damp ceiling, fraying into a thousand little strands._

_I like to play with the broken carpet. Wrap the bits around my finger and pull them off. I pretended that they were rings._

_Rings that were all diamond and gold and silver and pretty._

_I used to love running through the fields at the back of the house, pretending I could fly._

_When I ran, I felt like I could take off the ground._

_Just like a bird!_

_I held my arms out, running, running as fast as I could. I wanted to fly and escape from all this mess that had been my life for 6 years._

_My Momma had died in childbirth._

_Dad hasn't been the same since. He never will be. I think he blames me for her dying._

_Now, Daddy likes to drink. He likes to drink a lot._

_Sometimes, he comes home and throws stuff. Sometimes the neighbors call the cops and he gets angry at me for the cops taking me away._

_He told me the families I went to live with didn't care about me. They didn't want me like he did. He told me they would never love my as much as he did._

_The police come around with a nice lady who takes me to foster homes sometimes. Her name is Melanie. I like when she visits._

_I remember when I was 4 they took me to a real nice lady and man who taught me to sing._

_When I came home again I tried to show Daddy my singing voice. He didn't want to hear it. He said I sounded like a dying cat._

_Sometimes though..Daddy goes a little too far. He drinks a little too much and he, well he gets angry at me._

_I don't know why, he just does._

_The blue and red lights danced through the window._

_The made pretty circular patterns on the floor._

_I watched them dance through the window and bounce off the rain like they had many times before._

_This was not the first time these colored lights had been at our house._

_It had happened again._

_Even at 6 years old, I knew that every time that I went to live with Daddy again, he wouldn't change._

_I hugged my knees tighter and saw the tears stream down my face._

_They were lit up by the red lights outside, then the blue. He had come home late tonight. In the usual state he is. He got angry, like he usually does._

_Drunk, disorderly._

_Thats what I heard the cops call it._

_"Sir, please calm down, you are drunk..disorderly.."_

_'Again' I thought._

_I had this voice tell me things. It commented on the things Daddy and other people said to me. It was in my head._

_Don't tell anyone, but I think I might be crazy._

_I rocked back and forth slightly and heard the knock at the front door. It was heavy against the wood. I waited a few more minutes and Daddy didn't answer it._

_The hand knocked again; a little louder this time._

_Daddy must be passed out on the couch like normal._

_Would I have to go and answer it?_

_I looked around the room and got the courage to stand up out of my corner._

_I walked over to the bedroom door that I had locked._

_Peering through the key hole, I couldn't see Daddy wasn't around, so unlocked it as quietly as I could._

_Stalking down the hallway, avoiding the floorboards I knew made a squeaking noise, I walked on my tiptoes._

_I peered down the stairs and saw the open plan living room that lingered under the stairs. I crouched down and looked through the banisters._

_Daddy wasn't getting up for the door._

_'He must be asleep..' the voice in my head said._

_"I know.." I said aloud, whispering back._

_'Answer the door..go on..unless your too scared too..' The voice was antagonizing me and I needed to prove to myself that I wasn't scared._

_I tiptoed down the stairs, holding the banister and when I got to the bottom, I ran to the large, heavy oak door and opened it._

_I had to stand on my tippy-toes to open it._

_Looking up, I saw a cop and her friends._

_"Hullo sweetheart..is your Daddy 'ere?" She asked me in a kind southern drawl._

_I didn't say a word, just nodded and pointed to the sofa._

_The furniture in the living room was turned over, coffee table broken and glass all over the floor._

_Furniture strewn everywhere, things having been thrown around the house in anger like normal, I was used to it. The cop still looked shocked at the sight she was greeted with when she walked in and over to Daddy._

_I watched, but turned my head back to the outdoors as I saw a woman approaching from the corner of my eye._

_My eyes widened as I saw my case worker, Melanie._

_She looked down at me from her slim build and tall height. Her chocolate brown hair swirled around in the wind like it was doing a magical dance._

_The wind and rain from outside made my bare feet all damp and cold. I looked down at my feet as they started to hurt when the wind rushed passed them._

_She bent down and looked at my head._

_"Wha' happened Neila?" she examined the cut that was still dripping blood down over my forehead and into my eye._

_I looked up at her and started to cry. I couldn't help it._

_"The same thing that always happens.." I said as Melanie pulled me into her arms. I knew exactly what was coming next._

_She scooped me up and took me outside to the car, my feet still aching from the cold wind._

_I was going back into foster care._

_Again._

* * *

I hate to say it, but Rick was getting nowhere with this cocky little shit.

As far as I was concerned, time was not something we had to spare.

This kid's friends had Glenn and we had no idea what these morons were going to do to him.

That's assuming he was still alive.

"Wanna see wha' happened to the last guy that pissed me off..?" Daryl was unwrapping Merle's hand from the cloth he had put it in earlier.

Daryl threw the lifeless hand at the kid.

I smirked at the kid's reaction.

He cowered in the corner, thrashing around and jumping to the other side of the room; trying to keep the lifeless hand away from him.

Since the last time I had seen it, it looked even more wax-like.

More dead looking.

If that was even possible.

Merle's hand is something you would see in a house of horrors and now, so were we.

I mean dead people were roaming the streets, I had shot someone, Daryl is trying to bet the shit out of this kid and all the while Glenn has been captured to his own horror house.

'He might not even still be alive..' My favorite voice was back, but I was in no mood to entertain it.

'Sounds exactly like th' end of th' fuckin' world' I thought to myself as Grimes pulled squirrel hunter off the kid and shoved him in my direction.

I looked up at squirrel hunter from my perch that I had made on one of the tables.

He looked very pissed off.

Grimes being the 'good cop' he was took advantage of the kid's fear and knelt down beside him.

"The men you were with took our friend..all we want to do is talk to them..see if we can work something out.." He challenged the kid with a daring glance.

The kid looked up at him from his spot on the floor.

"Fine..but its your death puto.." he said looking back at Rick. He looked scared.

I imagine the kid would have been late teens, certainly no older than 20.

He was rugged and had a couple of tattoo's covering his neck.

One was of a marijuana leaf.

'How classy' I thought to myself. 'Wha' th' hell is he doin' with people like that anyway?' I wondered.

'Survivin'..' the voice cut in, answering my question.

I shook my head and placed my hand on either side of the table, pushing my body off my perch.

My feet landed on the floor gracefully.

I decided to go and check the alley for walkers.

"Where y'think your going?" Rick turned to me to with a quizzical look.

"Checkin' th' alley for walkers..didn' realize I had to ask permission" I rolled my eyes and stalked off, knife raised in front of me and rifle over my shoulder.

I climbed the stairs back to the roof and when I reached the heavy door at the top, I opened it, pushing all my body weight behind it.

It swung open and I felt the cool breeze whirl towards me, dancing around my feet and pulling my hair into its grasp.

Walking onto the roof, I swiftly made my way to the edge to see the alley.

My hair still did a dance around me and it was annoying me, so I shoved it down either side of my ears, trying to control it.

I pulled my rifle forwards and looked over the edge of the building and through the scope.

Nothing.

'Only the dead person you killed..' I thought to myself.

I scowled slightly and heard the door to the roof open.

Spinning my head around swiftly, I saw T-Dog walk through, his head hung slightly.

"Alright?" He called over to me as he slowly approached after closing the door behind him.

I nodded at him and went back to looking through the scope of my rifle.

"Looks like we are still clear.." I said to him with a slight smile and I pulled myself away from my rifle and slung it back over my shoulder.

The strap had started digging into my shoulder, but I tried to ignore the rough material taunting my skin.

"I dunno about that..He's just a street kid wannbe. How do we know he's not leading us into a trap at this place where they supposedly have Glenn? I mean how do we know he's still alive?" T-Dog had concern in his voice and I knew he still felt guilty about us not being able to find Merle.

"We don'..But they have one of ours y'know? It's a risk we're gonna have ta take..He would do the same for any one of us." I observed T-Dog as he rested his hands on the raised edge of the building.

He had his head hung between his hands, a look of despair crossing his face.

I smiled and stepped forward to place a friendly hand on his shoulder.

He looked up at me, eyes silently pleading for me to tell him something he wanted to hear.

I think he wanted me to tell him none of this was his fault.

That it was going to be ok.

That we were all going to get back to camp alive.

I couldn't lie to him and tell him something that I didn't even know was true myself.

"We'r gonna get Glenn back..an' he's gonna be alive an' fine. M'kay?" He nodded and stood back up properly, taking comfort in my words. "B'sides..Merle was a prick..I don' blame ya. You tried to make it right by coming back into this death trap." I chuckled lightly, wanting him to take more comfort in the words of reassurance.

If I'm honest, I do blame him.

But I couldn't guarantee that I wouldn't have done the same damn thing in that situation.

The last thing this man needed to hear was that it was his fault.

He was real torn up about the fact he may have killed another of the few human beings that was alive and breathing.

I knew that feeling, except I knew I had killed that man.

T-Dog was living with the burden of 'IF and WHAT IF's'

"C'mon..le's go back an' see wha' Rick's genius plan is, and how likely it is to get us all killed" I smirked as I started walking back towards the door that would take us back down to the floor where Dixon and Grimes were probably still squabbling and having their silent masculine battle over 'pack leader'.

I rolled my eyes at the thought and opened the heavy door that led to the stairs.

I was shocked as I had another figure facing me as I opened it.

His hand was stretched out as if he was about to open the door.

"Th' fuck?" The person said as he stared back at us.

"Wha..? Comin' to come an' save us from th' fuckin' squirrels or somethin'?" I rolled my eyes and walked past Dixon and down the stairs.

I head the two pairs of feet follow down the stairs after me.

"Th' fucks were you two doin' up ther' anyways?" I glanced up at Dixon as we rounded a corner of the stairs.

"Oh, well y'know, we though' tha' y'all were too fuckin' busy beatin' on tha' kid tha' y'wouldn' notice if we fucked off for tea an' biscuits on th' roof" I made sure the sarcasm was clear in my voice when I spoke.

We reached the floor that the office was on and I stood out of the way so that Dixon could walk through before me.

As he walked past, he gave me a stare that I swear; could kill a person.

I smirked back at him.

I winked at T-Dog and followed after Daryl.

As we walked back into the office, the kid was back in his chair that he had scurried away from when Daryl threw Merle's hand at him.

Grimes looked up and we started planning how we were going to approach these people and what the kid described as a fucking fort.

Somehow, I doubted it.

This man he spoke of, Gee seemed a little unbelievable and judging by his choice of words, he like to over exaggerate.

"Wha's yer name kid..?" I asked him.

He looked over at me. I had propped myself against a wall, shoulder resting into it gently.

My hands crossed across my chest, I was looking defensive but I was about to change that stance.

"Miguel..why the fuck you askin' me tha' shit anyways?" I raised an eyebrow as he spoke and approached the kid.

I bent down in front of the seat he was sitting in and smirked at him.

"Cause..I think you ar' missin' a few details out..I mean y'don' wanna end up like yer friend in th' alley, do ya?" I raised an eyebrow and kept smirking at him as I spoke.

I saw his face drop at the realization that I was the one on the roof that shot his friend.

"YOU! Your the one that shot Jorge?" His eyes widened, looking scared. "Guillermo, he's gonna kill you..he's gonna cut you up an' feed you to the dogs man!"

He held his head between his hands, distressed at the new light of realization that had come over him.

"Tha's not necessary..or likely..how 'bout ya start tellin' us th' truth kid..? Start tallin' us exactly what we are up against, or I promise ya that I will shoot you the minute everyone here turns their back" I stared him out for a few more seconds.

Standing up, I eyed Rick as I walked back towards my original spot against the wall.

"Guillermo, has a nice ring to it huh?" I grinned as I walked past Rick who looked a little shocked that I had seen through lies he was telling us.

The kid started talking.

Telling us truth this time but something still seemed amiss.

There was something he was hiding, but I didn't know what.

Either way, from our conversation with the kid we had learnt that the door was surrounded by two derelict buildings.

My eyes lit up and I knew that we would have two perfect sniper spots.

We had also learnt that Gee wanted the bag of guns we possessed.

It finally made sense why they took Glenn now.

They took him in exchange for the bag.

I had also shot one of their men.

I think this situation was about to get a hell of a lot more complicated than just a bag of guns, a dead man and a hostage on either side.

**Daryl POV:**

Maybe she's not as fucking stupid as I first thought.

She did get through to the kid.

Seemed to be scared of her and she didn't even hurt 'im.

Very rarely I've seen that.

Especially with kids like him.

We started approaching the old run down warehouse looking building that the kid had initially decribed as a fort.

Phht! More like a fuckin' fort of blankets and pillows.

It was an old factory with graffiti down the sides of the walls, wooden pallets and bits of plastic just thrown around.

There was weeds and bushes growing out of the walls and the concrete floor.

Was pretty run down.

Exactly the kid of place the kid and his buddies would hang around.

We were not far out now, maybe a few hundred yards and we needed to have the element of surprise.

I saw Rick handing out a gun to T-Dog.

He gave him a rifle that was similar to Neila's

Seemed to make sense to have those two on the roof.

She was a good shot, and well, T-Dog didn't seem to deal too well with confrontation.

At least I knew one of them could hit a bloody target.

I started biting the skin around my thumb again as Rick explained the plan again to everyone.

The impression I was giving off obviously wasn't great and Neila had noticed.

Bet I looked like a nervous child.

I pulled my thumb away from my mouth, the self conscious me was kicking in.

I let my hand fall down by my side, feeling useless and uncomfortable under her glare.

She looked at me quizzically.

I ignored her and turned my attention back to Grimes.

A moment later, I felt the pair of eyes that were on me move elsewhere

What the fuck did she keep looking at me for?

I glanced at her a few times, trying to read her expression, but she was in game mode.

I had seen the look earlier on when china man and I were going down into the alley.

It was a look of determination.

A look that gives someone the ability of survival.

She wasn't like the other woman back at camp.

They all seemed quite happy sitting around doing fucking washing all day.

But not her.

'Phht! The fuck you spendin' time thinkin' 'bout her for anyways?' I thought and turned my thoughts back to the possibilities of the numerous situations that might unfold in the coming minutes.

**Neila POV:**

Grimes had situated me and T-Dog on the roof.

Seemed to make sense to me.

Squirrel hunter was biting at his thumb again.

Surprised there is any skin left on the damn thing by how much he bites it.

I watched him for a few moments and then I noticed him glaring back at me.

As soon as our eyes met, he busied himself, taking sudden interest in the walls surrounding the warehouse.

I scowled lightly.

What was it with him?

One minute he is all friendly and the next he is hostile.

I still couldn't quite figure him out.

I looked back to Rick who glared at me for a moment.

"You sure you're up for this?" Grimes said as he turned to T-Dog.

"Yeah.." He grabbed the bag of guns and went off to his post on the left side of the building.

"Let's try not get any more blood on our hands than we have already, yeah?" He looked back to me and glared at me with a serious tone.

"Yeh, alrigh' officer..I'll be on my best behavior.." I flashed him a smirk and turned off the the right side of the building.

T-Dog was going to be situated on the left side with rifle I was going to be on the right of the doors.

The idea was to use the crossfire to our advantage.

I hugged in closely to the side of the wall that was falling to bits.

The windows along the building were smashed, the glass strewn over the floor.

The place looked a goddamn mess.

There was bushes of green leaves practically growing through the walls.

All the same, I can see why they set their camp of people here.

Not somewhere people would come looking for survivors.

I started climbing up parts of the derelict building, and planning my route to my post.

My rifle was slung over my shoulder.

Now, the strap of my weapon digging into my skin was comforting.

I knew my friend was near should I need it.

Upon reaching my post, I was a tad nervous and half expected the whole wall to collapse under my weight.

Dismissing the thought, I took my rifle off my shoulder.

It was hot out.

I shrugged the shirt I had over the top of my tank off and threw it to the ground beside me.

I hunkered down, loaded up my rifle and stayed stationary in my position.

I watched as Grimes and squirrel hunter stalked forward towards the heavy, dark wooden doors of the factory.

They had the kid going first, so that if these cocksuckers did decide to unload their weapons, they would have a peace offering at very least.

"'mon, c'mon.." I said to myself in a ritual manner.

I just wanted Glenn back.

My muscles tensed up as the door opened, I couldn't see a bloody thing, but a few seconds later, a man stepped out.

He looked very clean cut.

Not something you can have the luxury of these days.

Or at least we couldn't.

Maybe they had showers..seems likely if they are all looking relatively clean.

The man I guessed was the almighty Gee.

I felt the adrenaline start to hit my system, ready for a shoot out.

The worst case scenario's were running through my mind.

I rolled my eyes at the thought of the kid thinking this man was God.

This man sure as hell didn't look anything special.

He wore dark khaki pants with a dark blue pinstriped shirt and black tank underneath.

'Best clothing for a special occasion huh..?' I thought to myself.

A few moments later, a man came storming out of the warehouse with his gun raised.

"Fuck.." I muttered to myself.

I recognized him.

That was the man who came out of nowhere.

With his friend.

Who I shot.

Guilt started to fill my stomach and it was inevitable that I lost my concentration a little.

They were obviously discussing the man I shot, and the exchange of people between them.

'One for one..'

'You've fucked this up..He's dead because of you..' The voice began taunting me again.

Ignoring it, I looked through my scope, still watching the exchange intently.

I didn't notice the person stalking me from behind.

They looked over at T-Dog and I since I couldn't hear the exchange, I was assuming that Rick had..

I heard a brick from behind me of the wall fall.

I swiftly flipped my head around to see a man I didn't recognize group pull himself onto the wall I was on.

I stood as fast as I could trying to anticipate what he was here for.

He was much stronger than I was, judging by his build and height.

I could maybe outwit him, hitting him where it would hurt most

I am guessing they were taking their vengeance for someone shooting a member of their pack.

I bent my knees, staring the man down, he pulled a knife out.

My eyes widened slightly and I held my hands up in a defensive posture, showing him I was not wanting a fight.

"C'mon..le's play nice.." I said to him, tilted my head as I kept holding the gaze with him.

I tried to anticipate his next move.

In a split second, he thrusted the knife in the direction of my abdomen.

I thought that would be his first move, I and moved his hand away, grabbing his wrist and throwing it over my shoulder.

I pushed my whole body weight into my right fist.

I winced as my knuckles made contact with his face.

Hitting him with everything I had, the large muscular man swayed slightly.

I had already planned out my next move.

I brought my knee to his crotch before he could anticipate it.

He groaned in pain loudly and sunk to his knees.

I took the opportunity to knock the kife out of his hand, banging his hand roughly against the wall.

I grabbed it before it dropped.

I and held it to his throat and moved him into a choke hold

We could see everything that was happening at ground level.

Rick looked over to T-Dog and Gee looked the same way.

I'm guessing Gee was about to have his people fire on Rick and Daryl and Rick told Gee and the rest of his good friends about us.

Rick turned his head to where he knew I was positioned and his eyes widened, seeing that I had taken a hostage.

Daryl's gaze followed a few seconds later, then Gee's.

Gee smirked up at us and I shot him and his friends the dirtiest look I could.

Gee called out a name and above us, Glenn was taken out onto the edge of a roof, bag over his head.

My breath hitched slightly as I turned my head to see him.

'C'mon, c'mon...' I said over again in my head. 'I need you home safe Glenn..'

Glancing up at him, the two people that were on the roof with him had taken the bag off his head; revealing that he was unhurt.

Glenn looked down at Rick, terrified, his feet getting a little too close to the edge, he began to try and lean backwards to prevent falling.

Guillermo turned his attention back to Rick and more dialogue was exchanged between the two of them.

They spoke for a few more minutes.

The adrenaline through my veins was still flowing.

Rick slowly started walking back wards, Miguel and Daryl doing the same.

Rick nodded up at me as a motion to let the stranger go.

Gee and his crew started walking backwards into their little 'fort', closing the door behind them.

"Told ya to play nice.." I whispered to the man I still had in a choke hold.

I kicked him as hard as I could in the kidneys.

He fell forward and curled up, groaning in pain.

I picked my rifle up and made my way back down the wall as fast as I could.

Hugging tightly to the wall in the same fashion I had on the way up, I took extra caution to watch my footing on the way down.

I met Rick and Daryl at the place I had left them, on the far side of the building out of sight from Gee and his people.

Rick walked towards me looking furious as I approached.

"What happened to best behavior?" He raises an eyebrow at me, hand rested over his pistol on his belt.

He looked pissed, and I imagine it wasn't just at me.

Clearly, he didn't get what he wanted from Gee.

"Hey! He jumped me..wha'd ya expect me to do? Tried to stick a fuckin' blade through ma gut an' your askin' me wha' happened to best behaviors? Ya gotta be fuckin' kiddin.." I shook my head at him, glaring.

"Alright..We need to figure out what we're gonna do.." Rick took his attention away from me and back to Miguel.

"Move" He commanded and the kid did as he was told. They started walking back towards the office where we had set up temporary camp.

I glanced over at T-Dog who gave me a sympathetic look then followed after Rick.

Squirrel hunter chewed the skin around his bottom lip, looking at the ground.

"Wha' happened?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Fucker wants the guns..come back locked an loaded or hand the guns over" Daryl glanced up at me.

I looked down, thinking, trying to anticipate what Grimes would do.

"Y'alrigh?" He asked me.

I looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

Ok, this whole 'I'm your friend, now I'm not' shit was starting to really get to me.

"How th' fuck d'ya do tha'? Go from bein' mean as hell to.." I was cut off as squirrel hunter started walking away from me.

I scowled and took my steps faster than usual to catch up to him.

"Go find someone else to bother.." He said, clearly having heard me follow behind him.

He slung his bow back over his shoulder, ignoring me.

"Th' fuck Dixon?" I was getting more pissed off now.

He ignored me for a few more steps.

I was not having him ignore me.

Skipping a few more steps to catch up, I stepped in front of him, I roughly shoved him in the shoulders with both hands.

He perked up and stared at me looking confused as hell.

"Wha' th' hell is tha' for?" He glared back at me angrily, speaking to me through gritted teeth.

"Don' walk away from me when 'm talkin' to ya" I scowled at him.

"Got bigger thangs to worry 'bout now hurry up.." Dixon stepped around me and I rolled my eyes.

**Daryl POV:**

When we got back to the office we had been planning in, I couldn't help but think about the exchange I'd had with Neila on the way back.

She was stubborn as hell, I'll give her that.

Brave too.

'Why are you wasting so much goddamn time thinking about her?' I wondered for the second time today.

Couldn't help but smirk as I thought about her angry look.

'Damn, if these fuckers ain' the death of ya, she's gonna be..' was my last thought before stepping back into the office with Neila closely on my heels like a lost puppy.

* * *

**Authors Note:**

**Ok, so there was chapter 7! Hope you enjoyed, Neila ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time, huh!**

**Do you like having Daryl's POV in this too?**

**How do you think things are going to go down in chapter 8 when they go back to Gee's ?  
**

**Please Read & Review if you liked this chapter and have a great Sunday everyone!  
**

**Love, **

**~Nia**


End file.
